The Spellcrafters
by diabelle
Summary: Selfimposed exile for fifteen years! Would you have made such a sacrifice for the good of your world. Alex and Max have, pray that they return succesful. Harry is still only a sixteen year old boy with far to much to deal with. What do they have in common
1. Chapter one, heading on home

_Chapter One, Heading for Home._

"Summers are so short in Canada," thought Alexandra Croft. She and her husband Maximilian had been stationed here for so long, and were only able to enjoy the weather in late spring and summer.

The autumn months were too unpredictable due to freak storms that could pop up out of the blue. The winter didn't bear mentioning, as it was so cold, you couldn't venture outside. Moreover, while the calendar winter might only last until the end of March. In reality out here, it took at least another month and a half for spring to fully break through.

Summer, was another story, then they would take long walks in the huge ancient forests that surrounded their compound. They would picnic in the meadow near the stream that provided them with the perfect animal observatory. Their spot was on a little mound, giving them a perfect overview of the embankment on the other side. The embankment was visited by a variety of animals that came there to drink, allowing the couple to observe, see their natural behaviour and have ample time to see predators coming.

Alex enjoyed these moments of peace and togetherness with her husband immensely. These were the only times she felt she had her husband totally to herself. When they were working, work always came first, something Alex understood, but didn't have to like.

After looking at his watch, Max said, "Honey, it's almost two o' clock. We really should get back to work."

Alex sighed. "Alright, alright, I'm getting up already."

Alex got up, still watching the Demiguise she had been observing. Startled by her sudden movement, it turned invisible and Alex heard it running into the thick of the underbrush. They were such beautiful animals, such a blessing to watch if you got the chance.

Alex and Max calmly walked back to the summer entrance of the compound. They put on their protective clothing, dragon hide gloves and a dragon hide lab coat, as some of the experiments they were running should not be attempted without the necessary precautions. Max had learned this the hard way a few years back when an experimental potion of his decided to explode. Fortunately Alex was a skilled healer or Max might never have regained the use of his right arm.

Alex thought back over the years as she looked over at Max. It was hard to believe they would be celebrating their twentieth anniversary soon. Of course, for fifteen of those years they had been here, working for the Ministry. She smiled to herself; they would be going home soon, with all the knowledge they had gained here. After handing it over to Albus Dumbledore and the Ministry, their contract would be fulfilled and they could retire as Unspeakables. Maybe even have children, that thought brought a smile on her face.

Alex and Max had built the compound they were living in, because the location needed to be kept a secret. Alex remembered living in a very comfortable wizarding tent, while she and Max were cutting down trees with a little spell of their own invention, to make room for their very elaborate building design. Alex wanted most of the base to be underground because winters were absolutely horrid in Greenland, while Max wanted a lot of windows to let as much light in as possible. They compromised and half of the compound had been built above ground serving as their summer dwelling, while in the winters they could retreat to their cosy subterranean apartments.

In both sections, laboratories and testing ranges took up a lot of the space. But the Crofts did not lack in the better things in life. They had added a great range of luxuries, gorgeous bathrooms, several beautiful bedrooms, well-equipped kitchens and comfortable living rooms adjoined by an extensive library. The library was the only thing both sections shared and was built in two stories, so it could double as the linking corridor between the summer and winter house. The winter entrance to the house was a secret passageway that led a few hundred yards into the woods, since it doubled as an emergency exit. After completing the build, Max had done some extensive and excellent spellcasting making the compound unplottable.

Over the years, Alex had sometimes regretted becoming an Unspeakable like her husband and moving way out into the middle of nowhere. Then she would remember the work they were doing was too important. Soon their contract with the Ministry of Magic would end and they would be able to return to the world. Return to walking down to the corner market, to visiting friends and most important to her, having children. Alex wanted children so much, but when she agreed to conducting research cut off from the world for fifteen years, Alex had shelved her plans for having children for the good of the community.

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All was quiet at house n° four Privet Drive. All within were fast asleep. Now hold on, all? No, in one of the bedrooms, one could still see light; a boy with messy, raven black hair lay on his bed with books spread out around him. Harry was waiting for Hedwig, his pet owl, to return so he could close the window. Hedwig was not allowed to leave her cage at all during the day and at night only a few hours when the rest of the street was asleep, Uncle Vernon 's orders. Therefore, when Harry came home at the beginning of summer Uncle Vernon had locked her cage. Harry couldn't stand seeing Hedwig locked up like that so every night he would pick the padlock and let her out for a few hours. During that time, Harry did his homework. This arrangement caused Harry the least amount of trouble, because he would not be able to do any of his schoolwork during the day anyway.

During the school year, Harry attended Hogwarts, the best wizardry school in the world. His Aunt and Uncle didn't want to have anything to do with what they called the _"freaks"_ that used magic. Even using the words 'Hogwarts', 'magic', 'spell' or 'wizard' would send his Aunt and Uncle reeling about how abnormal Harry was, and how he would never amount to anything.

So like Hedwig's cage his Uncle had locked his trunk with all his schoolbooks and everything else in the cupboard under the stairs as soon as they arrived back to Privet Drive. On top of that, his Aunt and Uncle had decided that if he would be busy all day he wouldn't have as much time to do any of his funny business.

To keep him out of trouble this year, they had come up with something new, they had signed him up to do summer work with a landscaping company. Even though it was hard work, Harry actually preferred it. It sure beat being around his relatives and their moaning all summer. He had always felt more at ease being away from the house at Privet Drive, more accepted and appreciated.

At two in the morning Hedwig flew in and settled in her cage.

Harry walked over to her and stroked her gently, "Did you have a good hunt girl?"

Hedwig nipped him affectionately.

Harry then closed the cage and reattached the lock his Uncle had fashioned. "Sorry girl, I'll let you out again tomorrow."

Harry put his books, the parchment and the quill he was using to write, into a secret storage space he had found a few years earlier, under some loose floorboards.

"Yes, almost done with my Potions assignment, tomorrow I'll have to get my Transfigurations books out of the cupboard." Harry was used to his Uncle locking his books away in the cupboard under the stairs, his relatives were deadly frightened that someone might see what a freak they had for a relative and hid it from the rest of the world. For harry it didn't really make a difference anymore, especially since the Weasley twins had given him a crash course in picking locks, he could very easily get at his things and his relatives were none the wiser.

Harry said, "Good night." to Hedwig and pulled the sheets over him after switching off the lights. He didn't really want to sleep because he would inevitably wake as soon as he started dreaming. Harry had nightmares. Always the same one; Sirius falling backwards into the veil, and Harry unable to get to him; the nightmares had started as soon as they returned from the Department of Mysteries, about five weeks ago. However, tired, as Harry was he wasn't able to fend off sleep for very long and he soon fell asleep.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had signed Harry up to work during the holidays with a landscaping company that was based in Little Whinging. Not that Harry got paid for the work, heavens no, his Aunt and Uncle received his wages directly into their own account.

They had said, "This way you can pay us back for all the costs you rack up."

Harry hadn't even reacted to that because it wouldn't make a difference, it might even make the situation worse the only response he had was an inner snort 'ha, as if I ever cost you anything. Sticking me with Dudley's old clothes and not even always a minimum of food'. For the past three weeks Harry had gotten up at seven in the morning and had a small breakfast (since Dudley, his cousin, was still on a diet). After which he would walk down to the corner of his street where he would be picked up by the company mini-van. This would take the crew wherever they would work that day.

Harry really did not mind the work, it was outside and the sun was shining. The people he worked with were nice and treated him like a normal person. He was away from his Aunt and Uncle's incessant ravings; his cousin and his delinquent friends were miles away. In addition, Harry had found out that if he was really tired there was a small chance he could sleep all night without nightmares. The exertions also kept his mind from wandering over the events at the Department of Mysteries too much.

Seven o'clock in the morning, Harry's alarm clock went off. Still half-asleep and not even close to well-rested, Harry took a swing at the noisy machine, knocking it off his nightstand, effectively shutting it up. Drowsily he put a T-shirt and a pair of jeans on, which now fit a bit better because he had grown over the last few weeks, and because of the hard work his chest had widened a little and other muscles had grown stronger as well. Harry was maturing well because of the strain and the repetitive nature of the manual labour.

He went down the stairs to get some breakfast and at quarter to eight, he made sure he was at the corner of the street by running the mile or so to get there. When Harry got into the van, the Foreman briefed the crew on what they were going to be doing over the next three days. They were going to a castle in the area to redo a formal garden and to maintain the other gardens, which for Harry meant hauling a wheelbarrow, up through the garden and down to the compost heap a lot.

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"Max will you come to bed...." Alex called out after waking up at five in the morning and finding out her husband wasn't beside her.

"No." the answer came floating back. This so surprised her she got out of bed and put on a dressing gown to go see what was enthralling her husband so.

When she walked into the lab she saw the Demiguise from yesterday sitting on the corner of the kitchen table, peacefully eating slices of apple Max was feeding it. Alex was stumped. No Demiguise had ever come willingly to humans.

"Max, what did you do?"

"I honestly don't know," he replied, "I was making some herbal tea, slicing myself an apple and I must have left the door to the meadow open because next thing I knew it was sitting there eating my apple slices. It even takes them out of my hand."

Alex tried to remember all she knew about Demiguises, which wasn't all that much because wizardkind didn't really know much about the species at all. She knew it was a terribly difficult animal to find, because if startled they would turn invisible. For that capability, their long silky pelt was used to make Invisibility Cloaks.

They were also rumoured to be impossible to keep. From what she could remember, once a Demiguise was caught, the animal would die very soon. Accepted lore was that freedom was imperative in their survival. This also helped explain the scarceness and expensive nature of invisibility cloaks. Three Demiguises had to be caught and killed, for one invisibility cloak. The only thing Alex knew for sure was that Demiguises where very powerful magical creatures with a lot of powers still to be discovered. Maybe this animal presented a chance. It would be a windfall of luck to find out more about the species.

She looked at the Demiguise, was there anything different about it? It had a cute floppy ear and its colour was a deep amber, at least now it was. Yesterday when she had seen it, it had been a light silvery grey. What exactly did the colour mean?

"Max, do you think it would be a good idea if I took a picture of this?" Alex asked.

"Of course!" Max cried, "Why didn't I didn't think of that myself. The camera is in the living room on the bottom shelf of the cabinet."

Alex quickly got the camera from the living room and was relieved it contained a fresh roll of film. She was even more relieved when she walked back into the lab and the Demiguise was still there. Alex began taking pictures, the first one at an angle so everyone could see that Max was feeding the animal. Thankfully Wizarding cameras didn't need flashbulbs or the photograph would have probably frightened it invisible! She took another one of just the Demiguise, clearly capturing its distinctive mark, the cute floppy ear.

Then the Demiguise did something even more unexpected. It jumped and came up to Alex. It pulled the camera away from her and began investigating it, turning it over, looking at it from every angle possible before setting it down on the table. Its intelligence and excellent use of its front paws surprised Alex. It could use them as well as humans could use their hands, opposable thumb and everything.

Then the Demiguise did something that surprised Alex and Max even more. With a look around, it walked into the hallway and turned at the door to the Potions lab. Where it walked over to the fireplace and settled on the hearthrug, turning around a few times and lying down, after which it fell asleep. Alex took one more picture of this peaceful scene and then persuaded her husband to follow the Demiguises good example and come to bed.

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After a long day at work, Harry came back to n° four Privet Drive. He had never called the place home, and most likely never would. Harry considered a home a place where people loved you no matter what. At Privet Drive, no one loved Harry except Hedwig, on the contrary, he was despised by all other human beings within, his Aunt, Uncle and cousin loathed him, and his Uncles sister tried to deride him as much as possible every visit she made.

Harry went up to his room to get a fresh set of clothes so he could shower and change. When he got there, he found a very irritated Hedwig and a very excited Pig fluttering about. Harry saw a letter attached to the little owl's leg. Harry caught Pig before the twittering sound alerted his Uncle to unauthorised communications. The Order had been checking up on him through owl post quite regularly, but Harry didn't see a point in alerting his relatives to that fact. Harry thought about Mrs. Weasleys promise to have him come over for at least a part of his holidays. Harry hurried over to his desk and opened the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_How are you doing mate, everyone is all right over here. Ginny's ankle healed up fine and we're enjoying our holidays playing Quidditch in the orchard behind the house. Bill and Charlie are home as well so we can play three on three. _

_And whatever those brainthingies were and did, it doesn't seem to affect me very much. I know I was a bit off (yes, yes a bit much even) when we just got back from the Department of Mysteries but all that shows now are a bit of scars on my arms and the Healers at St. Mungo's said they'll fade in time._

_Fred and George's shop is doing great, even better than great. They already had to hire two employees to help them run the stores ... yes stores, they opened a second one in Hogsmeade two weeks ago and they can barely keep up their stocks. People simply love their stuff. _

_Last Sunday Percy even came crawling back hoping to be forgiven. Bill and Charlie yelled at him for hours. I've never learned so many swearwords in one day. I'll make sure to teach them to you some day. But after a day of being ostracised Mum and Dad considered it to be enough. They forgave him and reminded the rest of us that even though Percy may have made his mistakes, he was still family. And that we (Bill and Charlie) should lay off him. Well maybe in a year or so after he has suffered enough we will. _

_Harry the real reason for writing is that Mum asked Professor Dumbledore if you could come and stay with us and he said it was all right on one condition. We would all have to stay at Grimmauld place because too many people know where the Burrow is. Write back if you are allowed to come and even if you are not we'll come and get you on Friday no matter what. _

_Cheers Ron._

_Ps. Hermione will also be there. _

Harry cheered up immediately, two more days and no more Dursleys for a year. The day could not possibly get any better. Harry took a shower, changed, rinsed out the shower and took the dirty towels back to his room. Before he went downstairs to get himself something for dinner.

Ever since his aunt and uncle had picked him up from the Hogwarts Express this year, his aunt provided him with adequate meals for a growing boy. It was nowhere near what Dudley ate in one sitting, but that wasn't necessary. Harry was glad that Mad-Eye Moody's threats had worked like a charm.

When everyone's plates were empty Harry asked, "Uncle Vernon, can I go stay with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer?"

Uncle Vernon grunted and said, "Those red-haired people again?"

"Yes, Sir," Harry said, "If it is all right, they will come pick me up on Friday."

Uncle Vernon grunted again. Harry took that as a yes and hurried upstairs to write an answer to Ron.

_Dear Ron,_

_Thanks for writing it is lovely to know that all of you are all right especially after that episode at the Department of Mysteries. I'm all right, I guess. I have been working very hard for the last few weeks. My Aunt and Uncle signed me up to work for a landscaping company (I'm basically a glorified gardener) so they could earn something for me being around. _

_I asked and they were fine with me staying with you guys for the rest of the summer so you can come get me next Friday. Preferably in the evening because that way I can finish work and get packed without too many problems. See you soon Ron._

_Harry._

Harry attached the letter to Pigs leg and threw him out the window.

After finishing work on Friday, Harry told the Foreman that he would not be back the following week since he would be staying with friends in another part of the country for the rest of the holidays. Harry had packed everything in his trunk the evening before, making sure he didn't leave anything in his room for Dudley to mess with.

So at a little before eight in the evening Harry was ready in the Dursleys living room waiting for the Weasleys to arrive. Harry hoped that they would use an acceptable means of transportation for the Dursleys, because that made the noise level more bearable in the Dursley house.

Eight o'clock, the doorbell rang and Dudley opened the front door, he was expecting some of his friends to come over. Instead, he found four red headed boys on the doorstep. Dudley ran upstairs screaming, with one hand on his bum and the other partially covering his mouth, very sensible really considering Dudley's past experiences with wizards.

Harry walked into the hallway and said, "Hi Ron, hi Fred, George, Percy, your dad not coming?"

"No." said Fred, "You'll have to make do with the four of us." and winked at Harry.

Harry then pointed out his trunk, which was immediately grabbed by the twins.

"Goodbye Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia." said Harry.

"Mumble de mumble." could be heard coming from the living room.

So Harry could be seen leaving Privet Drive n° four together with four red headed boys, two of which were carrying a large trunk and a third was carrying a beautiful snowy owl in a large cage. Ron had by now told Harry they would be travelling by Knight Bus. A few houses removed from the Dursley house Harry extended his wand arm and they all waited for the Knight Bus to appear before them.

A few minutes later the bus appeared. While the twins were loading Harry's trunk onto the bus Mad-Eye Moody turned up and from behind him out of the bushes popped up Tonks, sporting bright green hair and a nice khaki outfit.

"Wotcher, Harry," she said.

"Hiya, Tonks," he replied.

Apparently Professor Dumbledore had kept up his surveillance on Harry.

Mad-eye told the conductor, "Seven to Grimmauld Street."

"Seventy-seven Sickles, please," said a very impressed Stan Shunpike, the conductor. He was thinking to himself, 'Oh my, oh my, Harry Potter and Mad-Eye Moody on my shift at the same time. I can't wait to tell my mum.'

Harry remembered the name of the excited young man from his last trip on the Knight Bus; and said, "Hi, Stan," while he was getting on the bus.

Moody paid the bus fare and rushed the boys upstairs. Since it wasn't dark yet the bus's interior looked like someone had haphazardly rearranged his living room, there were groups of plush armchairs all over the place, set around small coffee tables. When Harry, who had expected a décor of mismatched four poster beds, asked where the armchairs came from. Moody explained that the Knight Bus only supported beds when it was actually dark outside and therefor time to go to sleep. Harry and the Weasleys took seats on the second story of the bus in the front.

Harry deliberately didn't look outside once the bus took off, it wasn't really an uplifting sight to see houses, and trees and entire apartment buildings jump aside when the Knight bus raced past. Instead, he Ron, Fred and George played some games of exploding snap. Tonks, Percy and Moody were looking around, spying for anyone who might cause any harm. Percy was most likely trying to redeem himself for letting down his family the year before.

An hour and a half after getting on the bus they finally arrived on Grimmauld Street. Harry looked out the window and saw the familiar sights welcoming him. Once off the Knight bus the small group quickly walked across the square to n° twelve.

The first thought that raced through Harry's head was 'Home' closely followed by an almost desolate 'Sirius'. Moody hurried them through the front door and down to the kitchen where a glowing Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a huge hug.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you dear, we were so sorry we couldn't get you away from those Dursleys any sooner but until last week Dumbledore would not hear of it. At least now you'll have a nice birthday," she said.

Harry hadn't even thought about it but the day after tomorrow, Sunday would be his Sixteenth birthday.

_Chapter Two, Sweet Sixteen._


	2. Chapter two, sweet sixteen

_Chapter Two, Sweet Sixteen._

Harry went to bed late that night, the spontaneous party that had erupted when Harry had rejoined his loved ones took them all into the early hours of the morning. Everyone seemed to show up. At a certain moment, it even seemed like the entire Order of the Phoenix was crammed into the living room at Grimmauld place.

In the far-left corner of the room, Professor Dumbledore was quietly talking to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred and George were playing Exploding Snap at the coffee table in front of the fireplace. Hermione had arrived shortly after Harry, when her parents were finally done saying their goodbyes for another year.

Remus Lupin was talking with Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks in front of the large windows. At eleven, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arabella Figg walked in, shortly after followed by Mundungus Fletcher. Apparently, they had just finished their shift. Mundungus looked around and when he couldn't find Dedalus Diggle, he went to talk to Professor Dumbledore to see if he knew his location.

In addition, of course, there was also a vast delegation of Weasleys present. Arthur and Molly were talking to Percy in the far right corner when Charlie and Bill came in they joined them. Apparently, Percy still had a lot to do before his family would forgive him.

When Mrs. Weasley finally sent them to bed it was two thirty in the morning, what she called an 'ungodly hour', after which the trio reluctantly retired. Harry lay awake for a while, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, listening to the deep rumbling breath of Ron sleeping in the next bed. He was a bit overwhelmed by the welcome he had received and feeling at home had brought back a boatload of memories. Sirius had lived here up until his last day. Sirius had hated it here being trapped in the one place you had hoped never to return. Even though his mind was churning away dealing with a lot of repressed feelings Harry slipped into a deep sleep without noticing.

When Harry opened his eyes the next morning, Ron wasn't in his bed anymore. Harry looked at the clock and realised that it was almost noon. Harry quickly got dressed after taking a shower and went downstairs to find the Weasleys and Hermione eating lunch.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up this morning?" Harry asked.

To which Ron, who almost choked on a piece of sausage after hearing the question, answered, "But I did try and wake you up, I tried just about everything except setting off a few Dung Bombs next to your ears. Didn't help though so mum thought it best to let you wake up on your own time."

Harry blushed and thanked everyone, "I haven't been sleeping well, tonight's been the first time I slept a whole night without waking every so often bathed in sweat because of some nightmare."

Mrs. Weasley took that as her cue to give Harry another hug, after which she ushered him to the table and started heaping food onto Harry's plate. After everyone had eaten their fill, Mrs. Weasley started to clear the table. Harry offered to help but she wouldn't hear of it.

"You've been working too much already this summer," she said.

She then pushed Harry into the direction of the kitchen door. Mrs. Weasley really disliked the Dursleys for everything they put Harry through.

Harry was practically at the kitchen door when Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh, I almost forgot. A letter came for you this morning. Here, now go into the living room and have a nice sit down dear." While she gave him the letter in question.

Harry went into the living room, where he sat down in an armchair close to the window and looked at the letter. It was written on very thick, expensive parchment with a pleasing creamy colour and Harry's address beautifully printed in royal blue ink. When Harry turned it over, he saw a very official looking wax seal, depicting a set of scales and a sword. Harry wondered where this letter came from. He opened the letter trying not to damage the wax seal too much.

From the offices of Prouse, Hiatt and Wilberforce 

_Attorneys at law_

30th of July

_Diagon Alley n° two, London_

_To the highly regarded Mr Harry James Potter:_

_We send this word of notice, to enable Sir, to be present at the reading of the last will and testament of Mr Sirius Black, who regrettably passed away recently. The reading will take place at our offices on the Fifth of August, at three in the afternoon. If you for any reason do not wish to attend, but would however like to know the contents of the reading, a transcript can be delivered to you some time after that date, for you to peruse through in private. If so, please respond by return owl. _

_Aurelius Prouse_

_Head of the Board_

_Notary_

It was a good thing that Harry was already sitting down, because the letter caught him completely of guard. Last will and testament... Sirius... not attending... transcripts. Everything he had been suppressing for the last month and a half came rushing back. He felt so lonely, without Sirius to talk to about things that mattered. Without the loving arms that he missed so dearly...

Harry didn't really know what to make of the letter so he walked up to the fireplace and looked for the jar of floo powder that should be on the mantle. He wasn't entirely sure whom he should call, Remus, who was researching a spell at Hogwarts for the Order at the moment, or Arthur Weasley, who had returned to work after lunch. Harry decided to call Arthur, because he was living with the Weasleys and since Arthur Weasley worked at the Ministry, he would probably know more about things like Wizardry law and stuff.

By now Harry had found the Floo powder, it was hidden in a snuffbox at the back. Harry threw some into the fire, said Arthur Weasley's office, and got down on all fours to stick his head into the now green flames.

"Harry," said a surprised Mr. Weasley when Harry's head suddenly popped up in the fireplace in his office, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes Mr. Weasley, but I got a letter this morning, and I was just reading it but I don't completely understand what it means," Harry said.

"Well let me see," Mr. Weasley said. Harry gave him the letter.

After reading the letter he thoughtfully answered, "Harry, you should go to this reading, but not alone. A will reading for a wizard is quite different from a Muggle's. The Muggles simply read the actual paperwork out loud and be done with it. Wizards record their last will on something a little more authoritative than just paper. Which makes a Wizarding will reading a very powerful ceremony."

"What does a Wizard record his will on then?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's a very difficult enchantment, but the essence is that a piece of the actual will of the person is recorded onto a clear crystal. When that happens the crystal is no longer clear and translucent because it adopts the colour and some of the substance of the casters aura," Mr. Weasley explained. "During the reading that part of the will is enough, to show an image of the person in question and impart the content of the testament to those people near and dear to them. There is only one downside to a Wizard's will once the reading is done, the crystal has done its duty and releases its contents. Which is why they always make transcripts during the reading, just in case there is a dispute."

Harry considered all this and then asked, "Mr Weasley, would you and Mrs. Weasley come with me, because I really don't want to go alone to something this important. I don't want to do anything wrong."

"Harry of course we'll come. Even Voldemort himself could not stop us and you could never do anything-wrong son. Who-ever gave you that idea?"

Harry, who was a bit embarrassed by this obvious display of affection turned a bit red and quickly blurted, "See you tonight Mr. Weasley, I think I hear people coming into the living room," out in a hurry.

"Later Harry," replied Mr. Weasley, while Harry's head disappeared from his fireplace.

Harry was just getting up from the floor when Ron and Hermione came into the living room.

When Hermione saw the letter in Harry's hand she said, "Ah, I see it finally came. I got mine about a week and a half ago." The sentence came out in an almost giddy voice.

Harry took this news badly and promptly sat down on one of the armchairs near the fireplace, "You guys knew before me about this will reading thingy, and didn't see fit to tell me about it?"

Ron said, "Well, euhm... yes. I got my letter a little over a week ago, I knew. But, well I've been to lots of those readings, not really much ado about some old crony muttering about who should get the kitchen sink."

Harry couldn't believe his ears, Ron couldn't care less and Hermione almost looked excited to experience the event. For a moment there, Harry thought he would be sick, but instead he got up out of his armchair and dashed out of the room.

Harry ran up five flights of stairs before he ran out of stairs to climb. There were only two rooms on this floor, as Harry could see. He had never been up here before. Last summer when Sirius, Harry and the Weasleys were trying to make the house liveable again for humans, the upper two floors had been assigned to Sirius.

Harry walked up to the room on his right and slowly opened the door, just a crack at first, to take a peek inside. What Harry saw first was a huge four-poster bed with blue velvet drapes, a midnight blue canopy and royal blue silk bedcovers. Harry even noticed that the canopy looked surprisingly real, like someone had conjured a dark blue, starless midnight sky onto the fabric.

Harry opened the door further and stepped into the room to continue his exploration. He realised the room had been Sirius'. It also looked like this was the only room in the house Sirius had taken a liking to because it was beautifully furnished. Not only the bed, but also the armoires in both corners next to the door were beautiful and hand carved with a pattern that Harry thought was the Black family crest.

Harry also noticed a delicate desk and bookcase in the corner next to the window. Even the window was special. It was huge to start with and was made up in an intricate pattern of stained glass-in-lead, depicting the true Marauders: Prongs, Moony and Padfoot preserved for eternity. It looked like a fourth animal had been present, but Harry considered that Sirius would have definitely had Wormtail removed, being a traitorous little rat didn't earn you the right to be remembered for eternity.

Harry sat down at the foot of the bed and started to cry. The emotional walls he had built up, so he wouldn't have to think about his Godfather's death, crumbled. He missed his Godfather so. What was even worse, was that his friends didn't even seem to notice anything was wrong. Harry pulled the bedcovers around him. Being in this room made him feel closer to Sirius, the only person close to a father he had ever known. Harry fell asleep when the sheer emotion overwhelmed him.

When Harry woke a few hours later, he saw Remus looking at him from the window seat.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Kind of, I know men aren't supposed to cry and all..." Harry uttered before Remus cut him off.

"Nonsense, who told you that, of course men can cry. It's an outlet Mother Nature gave us. You should cry, when you need it most. Crying is what separates humans from animals. You shouldn't feel bad about crying Harry, never!"

Remus got up from his seat and started walking towards the door, "Now on a lighter note, would you like to help feed Buckbeak? I have some special treats for him, he earned them after the huge favour he did us a week ago." And walked into the room on the other side of the stairs.

Harry was confused, but followed shortly. What did Remus mean when he said huge favour? "Remus, what kind of favour?"

"Our beloved Buckbeak here, ate Kreacher," said a glowing Remus, who was by now feeding white ferrets to the Hippogriff, "He must have remembered it was Kreacher who had injured him, so he decided he needed an early lunch. We think Kreacher came in here looking for more of his Mistresses trinkets and was a little careless around Buckbeak. Too careless as a matter of fact, Kreacher was, yes indeed.

"Normally a Hippogriff wouldn't need a feeding so soon after he has eaten, but I highly doubt that Kreacher was very nutritious. That Elf was barely more than skin and bones. Come one grab a ferret and give it to him, he's earned it."

Harry saw one pure white ferret left in the sack that Remus had brought up with him, and relished the thought of feeding ferret boy Malfoy to Buckbeak even if only for one moment, as he fed the dead animal to the beloved Hippogriff.

At dinner that evening, Harry took a chair in between Mr Weasley and Remus. The whole time he adamantly ignored Ron and Hermione, who were trying to talk to him. He talked to Remus about Sirius' room, Buckbeak and about why no one had done anything about Kreacher after he had betrayed Sirius. All and all, it was a very quiet dinner that evening.

After dinner Harry walked into the library of the Black family and looked for an interesting book to read. Most of the books he saw were about Potions. "What is it about dark wizards and potions?" Harry thought to himself. He even saw dissertations on it in different languages. He even recognised a few French texts, an Italian one and even the odd Japanese text. Harry finally chose a book on all sorts of transformations and went into the living room.

Harry was very intently reading when Ron and Hermione disturbed him. Harry got up out of his chair and wanted to leave the room but they wouldn't let him.

"Harry hear us out will you. We don't understand why you're avoiding us. What did we do wrong?" said a very emotional Hermione.

"Yeah mate, what gives?" asked an equally puzzled Ron.

"I really have to explain?" growled Harry, "I have to explain to a know-it-all and a ginger prat, that I care a great deal about a man who was the only father I ever knew? Who passed away recently and apparently you two couldn't care less about it. You heard about the reading of his will before me and didn't even see fit to inform me. To you this reading may be a trivial fact. But not to me, it is the last thing my Godfather has to say to me and I take it very seriously, unlike you." Harry spat, "I have to explain that that makes me sick by even looking at the two of you right now. No I don't!" At that point, Harry stormed out leaving behind a very pained pair of people.

Harry went to bed early that night. He pulled the curtains of the four-poster shut. When Ron came in, he silently changed into a pair of pyjamas and went to sleep as well. Ron hoped that he and Hermione would be able to make it up to Harry in the morning.

They had been talking about what Harry said and had come to the conclusion that Harry had been right. They obviously didn't have any idea what the reading meant to Harry, and as his friends they should have told him and at least supported him. After all, they hadn't seen him for almost a month. After the ordeal at the Department of Mysteries they had only been together for a couple of weeks and Harry was the type to bottle things up and not talk about it to his friends. He probably had a lot to work through still and his friends should help him do that.

When Harry woke up the next morning, on the day of this sixteenth birthday, the whole room had been decorated with streamers and banners saying 'Happy Birthday Harry' and 'Sweet Sixteen'. It was impossible to keep a bad mood in al this excitement. Harry took a shower and put on his best clothes. A pair of jeans that didn't fall of his hips, that wasn't to worn around the edges and lastly which had a mostly even blue colour. Paired up with a T-shirt and a sweater that Mrs. Weasley had made him last year as his Christmas present.

When he arrived in the kitchen, everyone started singing. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Harry Potter, Happy Birthday to you." It was very beautiful hearing everyone sing together, all except the twins who thought that the 'Death March' was the appropriate music to sing just about every song to.

In the commotion, Ron and Hermione caught Harry and made their sincerest apologies. They explained they really should have been more careful with Harry's feelings and that it was inexcusable that they didn't tell him about the reading when they had heard about it. Harry considered that he had shaken their feelings enough and accepted their apologies. He did, after all, need his friends as much as they needed him.

After an immense breakfast, Mrs Weasley had really gone all out, Remus declared it time to unwrap presents, "Here Harry, I know you got a photo album from Hagrid your first year but it wasn't really complete, I worked very hard on this one and I hope you'll enjoy it."

"Thanks Remus, I love it," Harry was trying to hold back tears. He didn't think it was appropriate to cry on your own birthday when you were getting presents.

Harry got a book from Hermione, _'Wizard Bloodlines Through the Ages, An Illustrated Genealogy'; _Harry wondered why she gave him this book and made a mental note to ask her about it later. Ron gave him a yearlong subscription to Quidditch Weekly. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had bought Harry a new wristwatch, one that would actually tell time. They said it had a few more perks but that Harry would have to find out on his own. Bill and Charlie surprised Harry with a pair of wicked boots in Dragon skin. The Twins gave Harry a large selection of their inventions. Some old ones and some new ones, some even still in their testing stages.

Even Ginny had a present to hand over. Harry opened the package gently, to find a model Snitch inside with a note attached 'Welcome back to the Quidditch team. I hope it helps to keep you focused'. Harry loved the model and placed it proudly on the table.

"Thanks Gin, it is gorgeous." Harry grinned.

"My turn," piped up a slightly shy Percy from the door to the hall causing everyone to turn around.

Harry walked over to Percy to receive a rather large package. When he unwrapped it, it revealed a few books Harry was dying to read about '_Aurors_' and '_How to Become an Auror'_. Harry smiled at Percy, who in turn received a hug from his mum.

After everyone present had given Harry their presents, three remained on the table. Harry read the cards; the first one was from Dobby, that funny little House Elf had probably made him another pair of socks; the next one seemed to be from Professor Dumbledore and the last one was from ... Sirius. Harry sat down on his chair and stared dumbfounded into space. Sirius had got him a birthday present. He had thought about it even more then months beforehand. Harry couldn't stop the tears from coming now.

He opened Dobby's present trying to mask his emotions, he had been right. Dobby had made him socks; one sock depicted 'the Fountain of Magical Brethren' in gold and the other one a 'Prophecy-container' in silver. The rest knew how Harry felt, but everyone pretended not to notice and let Harry regain his peace and calm without being disturbed.

After lunch, which had included a 'huge delicious chocolate fudge double whipped cream' birthday cake, everyone started to leave. Harry asked if he could be excused and went up to Sirius' bedroom taking his two last presents with him. Harry needed to be alone to open these last presents. Knowing professor Dumbledore, his present would be very valuable, and should most likely not be public knowledge.

Harry was right, when he opened the package from Professor Dumbledore; he found a 'Pensieve', a book, _'Store Your Memories For All to See and Hear, an Instruction Guide'_, and a letter from Professor Dumbledore himself inside.

_Dearest Harry,_

_By now you have opened your present and found the ¨Pensieve" I sent you. You must be wondering why I sent you such a priceless item. Well I sent it to you, because you I fear are in need of one. Pensieves store all kinds of memories, including the more unappealing ones. Use the Pensieve before you to lift the burden of your past meetings with 'Voldemort' from your mind. _

_I am not saying you will forget about them, but placing them in the Pensieve will make your burden lighter and easier to deal with. While inside a Pensieve it is also sometimes easier to make connections, solve clues and other problems. And an added bonus is that you can show your friends what you have been through. Beware, though, a Pensieve will not accept lies. Only true memories can be stored within. _

_The Pensieve will also be helpful when next year you will continue your study of Occlumency, this time I myself will be your instructor, I blame myself for not accepting this role last year and will thus strive to rectify the problem and help you clear your mind of 'Voldemort'. _

_Happy Birthday Harry and enjoy the rest of your summer._

_Yours Truly,_

_Professor Albus Dumbledore_

Harry set the Pensieve, the book and the letter down on the bed and took the present from Sirius in his hands; he could feel the warmth coming off it. Warmth? But presents weren't supposed to be warm, were they? Harry quickly ripped off the wrapping paper and looked at the carved wooden box. It had some writing on the top: "Say your true name, and the contents of this box will be awakened. Lie and the contents will be forever lost."

Harry said his name, "Harry James Potter," and the box opened. Inside Harry found a small creature. Harry took the little animal out of the box, it fit on Harry's palm, it was that small.

When Harry went to throw away the wrapping paper a small booklet and a note fell out. Harry picked up both and read the front of the booklet _'How to Care for "Royal Marmosets", and How They Care For You'_. Harry then started to read the note. It was hand written by Sirius and said:

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday. Do you like the little thing? It is a 'Royal Marmoset'; they are magical creatures that originate in the dense jungles of South America. Their most important power is that they make sure that their owners have nice dreams (by barring nightmares), and get good nights rest. _

_This is a baby still, so he might not be that effective yet. However, you need to bond with them early on, because they will only serve one person in their life. I ordered him a few months ago, because they are very rare and sought after. I dearly hope he will help you deal with your nightmares and visions. Harry never forget that your Mother, your Father and I love you._

_Forever yours, your Godfather_

_Sirius Black_

_Ps. Don't throw the box you found the little tyke in away. It's a stasis box, and you could use it again some day._

Harry sat in Sirius' room for a few hours playing with the little thing trying to give it a name, and getting to know it. Harry knew it was a male Royal Marmoset because that was mentioned in the booklet Harry had received with it. The booklet also detailed what the charming animal ate and how it needed to be treated; all in all, it was a very interesting read. Sirius had said that its main power was the capability to safeguard ones sleep from nightmares. However, when you say main, you also imply there are other powers.

Just before going downstairs, Harry decided on a name. The young Marmoset's name was going to be Sirius, after his godfather and the 'Dog Star', so that it could guide him through day and night.

The days after his birthday went by very quickly. They always seem to when you are having fun. Harry didn't go anywhere without Sirius on his shoulder and he didn't have nightmares anymore. Even from the beyond, the grave his Godfather was still protecting him.

_Chapter Three, Roommates._


	3. Chapter three, roommates

_Chapter Three, Roommates._

Alex and Max had divided their workload among them a long time ago simply because they had different areas of expertise. Max was infinitely better at Potions and Transformations. Alex was an expert at Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts. They also divided the household chores amongst themselves. The cooking, cleaning and washing that always needed to be done come rain or shine.

Max, although he was an expert at Potions, would burn even water, if you let him within three feet of a stove. Which earned him the right to do the cleaning around the house, it was more then often his Potions lab after all that needed a thorough cleaning, because something nasty exploded in there. Alex did the cooking and the washing, because unless you wanted robes that were so stiff you wouldn't be able to walk around in them, you didn't want Max to show his 'prowess' at washing.

Alex knew that her husband had deliberately botched up his very few attempts at cooking and washing, because he really disliked those duties. As long as she knew, he didn't want to do them. She would be able to get even with him eventually. She was mischievously considering letting him pay, by doing the two and five am feedings of their first three children. No one could make a man do something he didn't want to do as well as a woman.

After the initial shock of having a Demiguise wandering freely about the compound, the Crofts quickly got used to it being around. Alex had taken it upon herself to study the creature, thereby allowing Max to continue working on his latest pet project.

Right from the moment the Demiguise had entered her sight, Alex had started making mental notes. The next day she simply wrote them down in a new notebook. Ever since, she carried the thing along and followed the Demiguise wherever it went. This would start early in the morning when Alex would be awakened by the Monitoring Charm she had placed on the creature. She had it set to wake her, as the Demiguise did.

This morning the squeals of the Monitoring Charm woke Alex and a very grumpy, sleep deprived Max at six in the morning. Alex wrote down the time and looked outside to see the sun coming up behind the treetops. She thought there might be a connection and added a comment about looking up a timetable for sunrise and sunset at their exact location.

"Wake up, sleepy," Alex teased her sleep drunk husband, "You wouldn't feel so bad if you would come to bed earlier, you know."

He grunted in response, and turned over onto his other side, pulling the sheets back over him, in an attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep. Alex got dressed; a black pair of trousers combined with a white shirt and plum coloured robes. After which she walked barefoot into the kitchen to start a fire and cook their breakfast.

The Demiguise was already in there when she came in. It was nibbling on an apple it had taken from the fruit basket on the counter. Alex looked at the fruit basket and added more apples on the list for this month's shopping expedition.

A half an hour later Max, who really wasn't a morning person, dressed in nothing more than black boxers and Alex's pink fuzzy dressing gown, was polishing off his breakfast with a piece of white bread he was using to soak up every last drop of egg-yoke.

He asked, "Is there any coffee left? I could really use a boost today. I don't seem to be able to concentrate all that well."

"No dear, we used the last beans the day before yesterday," Alex answered, "and you have yourself to blame for feeling lousy. Staying up all hours of the night. If you would get the sleep you needed at night you wouldn't have any troubles getting up in the morning."

She then walked up to the notice board attached to the back of the kitchen door and added 'ten pounds of apples' and ' two pounds of coffee beans' to the shopping list. It was quite the list this month, which meant that the couple would have to go shopping together. There was no way Alex could carry this lot on her own.

Alex restricted their shopping trips to once a month, and usually went alone. She didn't want to attract too much attention. Luckily, a few hundred miles west there was a Muggle supermarket that stocked almost everything the couple needed. Everything except Potion and Charm ingredients, they needed to get those from Diagon Alley still.

Max had been complaining that his 'Powdered Horn of Unicorn' was running out and some other more sinister ingredients had been depleting as well. Alex was considering doing all her shopping on Diagon Alley this month instead of going to the Muggle store.

"Honey do we still have a few doses of Multi-juice left?" asked Alex while planning?

"I think so dear, I will go check our Potion stores," he replied, while walking into the storage cabinet they used for their Potions. The couple maintained a large quantity of quality Potions for personal use and research purposes.

Max was no Potions Master, unlike the lecturers of his annual research conventions. No, the Potions Masters that were alive today were named Severus Snape, Armadeo Minardi and Eirdine Del Esti. They were the people who were the authority on the most difficult Potions, like the Wolfsbane Potion, the people who wrote books about them. They were the people who got paid fortunes for their services. Well except Severus Snape, people didn't really trust him. Max didn't really know why, but Severus Snape had a dark past, which stuck to him like glue and people didn't react to that very well. Except if they wanted something illegal done.

Max was, however, a better than average brewer of Potions. In the past few years, he had even begun making some Potions of his own invention. The Multi-juice Potion was one of them.

It was a derivative of the Polyjuice Potion but its effects were very different. The Polyjuice Potion was capable of transforming a person's appearance into someone else's for an hour per dose, with the use of some of that person's hair or fingernails.

The Multi-juice Potion gave a person 'human Metamorph' capabilities. It was not yet able to replace the Animagus transformation though, like the Polyjuice Potion you could only change from person to person. One could after using even the smallest dose, which would last for a little under an hour, change hair colour, the colour of ones eyes, ones bone structure, height and so on. You could become a totally different person.

The Crofts had had a lot of use of this Potion, because it enabled them to leave their compound without being recognised. It meant that Max could attend his Potions conventions and that Alex could go shopping without anyone finding out who they were. The largest dose would last a person for a little over a week, and unlike Polyjuice, you didn't have to drink it every hour. No Multi-juice was, all in all, a lot easier to use.

After Alex had cleaned up her kitchen, she went outside to enjoy the morning sun and the Demiguise followed her. She sat down in the middle of the meadow on the blanket she had brought out. After which she started to review the four days, the animal had lived with them.

It seemed to wake every day at about the same time; Alex really thought the sunrise had something to do with that. The animal seemed to be able to feel it even though it couldn't possible see it from the Potions lab, where the animal loved to sleep. Alex really had to get her hands on that Sunrise-Sunset table. Maybe they had something like that at _Flourish and Blotts_.

The Demiguise seemed to eat just about anything it could get its hands on. Although mostly it just ate fruit and vegetables. Alex smiled and even let out a snicker when she thought about yesterday evening. Max had reached for the last pear that had been in the fruit basket and the Demiguise had grabbed right out in front of him. Max had chased it around the kitchen, in vain because as soon as the creature felt threatened it turned invisible. It had turned up an hour or so later, on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Alex had also noticed that it's pelt-changed colour every so often. She wondered whether that was in response to something and why no one had ever been able to document this before. Alex had recorded the commonly known silvery grey, the amber yellow, a deep and vivid royal blue, a mottled green and a practically screaming crimson red. She was at a loss to tell what the colours meant.

She made an entry into the notebook on what the animal had eaten this morning, an apple and a hard-boiled egg and observed it, while it examined the edges of the meadow. Something on the far edge of the meadow seemed to concern the Demiguise, because it changed colour into a deep, deep grey, its pelt was almost black. It quickly came back to the blanket and started to pull on Alex's arm. Even though she didn't understand, Alex hurried and folded up the blanket and followed it back into the house.

When she looked outside, to see if she could find out what had scared the animal so, Alex saw a large Brown bear storming out from under the huge Red Cedar trees. Brown bears were usually very placid animals but if angered they could very easily kill even a wizard. Suddenly Alex felt very relieved she had followed the Demiguise. Then it hit her; the Demiguise had protected her from harm. Alex had to sit down to process all this.

"Max," she yelled out, "you have to come see this."

"What is it dear?" Alex heard coming from the Potions lab.

"Just come over here already, you'll see," she said with a trembling voice.

When Max walked into the kitchen and stood next to Alex, she pointed to the meadow where the large Brown bear was still thrashing about looking for the prey that had eluded him.

Max asked, "Hun, what happened?"

"The Demiguise saved me! I was sitting on a blanket in the middle of the meadow reading my notes. It must have smelled that bear or something because next thing I know it was pulling my arm in the direction of the door," Alex whispered.

"Darling, you're in shock," he said while he gave her a big hug and led her back to bed.

He made sure she was safely asleep. He had given her a Dreamless Sleep Potion, before he went back into the kitchen to deal with the bear. He still had his Dragon skin lab coat on so he was reasonably protected. He took his wand in hand and opened the door. The bear, which was sniffing the flat patch of grass in the middle of the meadow, looked up and started moving in Max's direction.

Max immediately shouted, "Impedimenta," and effectively froze the ferocious animal. He then uttered in a disappointed tone, "Avada Kedavra".

He then checked from which direction the wind was coming. When it turned out that there was no way that the Demiguise would have been able to smell the bear's imminent approach, Max added that to the growing list of things to investigate regarding the animal.

The Crofts had learned from the people that lived around these parts, that an animal that had a taste of human flesh, needed to be killed before it could kill any more people. Even though the human population around here was scarce, this bear had apparently had had contact with humans before.

Max stripped the carcass of its hide and claws; he pulled out the animal's teeth and then started rummaging around the woods surrounding the meadow looking for firewood; trying to burn off his adrenaline rush, he built a large fire to burn the rest of the carcass on. When he had collected a decent amount of firewood on a pile, Max levitated the carcass on. He started the blaze with a simple muttering of 'Incendio' and a swish of his wand. He waited around until there was nothing more of the fire left then a few embers dying out.

Max then took the hide, which he would sell, the claws and teeth, which he could use as Potions ingredients, inside and checked on Alex. He found the Demiguise sitting at the foot of the bed, it's pelt showing a vivid blue colour. To Max it seemed like the Demiguise was watching over Alex.

Max had to go into town to tell the other villagers that the bear was dead. They would then find out who was missing and see if they could save anything. He would take the bear skin with him. He took a reasonable dose of Multi-juice potion changed his features to match those of Mr. Abraham Smalls, his alias when they went shopping in the Muggle town, and wrote a small note to Alex, so she wouldn't worry when she woke up.

_Honey, _

_I am going to the Supermarket to let everyone in the area know that a rabid bear has been caught and killed. They will probably have better possibilities to find out whom the bear attacked before it came to us. I am taking the hide with me. I will be back as soon as possible and I'll bring back as much groceries as possible in return for the bear hide._

_Love Max._

He grabbed hold of the hide and Apparated to a spot about half a mile from the village where the General store was located. They had found out it was a lot safer to walk a bit then to Apparate in any closer. After ten minutes, he walked into town and headed straight for the Mayor's house. He knocked on the door and waited.

The door opened and the Mayor stepped out onto the porch, "Good afternoon Mr. Smalls, what can I help you with today?"

"I think it is the other way around Mayor. What have I done for you today," said Max, showing the Mayor the bear hide, "This animal almost attacked my wife this morning and I was only barely able to shoot it before it got to her. Of course Mr. Mayor you know what that means."

"That animal has tasted human flesh," came from a very impressed Mayor, "Do you have any idea where the animal came from before it arrived at your property?"

"No unfortunately I don't," replied Max.

"I have to start calling people, see who is missing," the Mayor hurriedly said, "We cannot thank you enough Mr. Smalls for shooting the animal and for letting us know as soon as possible. We will use all means to find out who the animal attacked before you, and see if we can provide any help."

The Mayor went back inside his house and the door slammed behind him. In any other situation, Max would be offended, but right now, he understood that time was of the essence. Instead, he walked down to the General store to exchange the bear hide for groceries.

When Max Apparated back home, he found Alex still asleep in the bedroom, the Demiguise curled up beside her. He put the groceries away. He had gotten practically everything they needed according to the notice board in the kitchen. Everything except the Potion ingredients Max required to continue with his research. He didn't worry about it because he remembered Alex had planned a shopping trip to Diagon alley tomorrow. He would be able to get all his ingredients there without a problem. Max checked the calendar; tomorrow was the fifth of August.

Alex woke up later that evening, to the smell of fresh apple coming from the kitchen. She folded the covers back and swung her legs out of bed. She walked into the kitchen and saw Max setting the table.

"Aha, now I know what it takes for you to start cooking," said a pleasantly surprised Alex.

"Well no, not really," answered Max, "I cheated, I bought a mincemeat and an apple pie in town, I just put them in the oven to warm them up a bit."

"Ah well, its better then nothing," Alex replied and sat down at the table, "What else did you get in town?"

"Just about everything on our shopping list, but we still have to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow for my Potion Ingredients!"

"That's all right, I have to get a few things myself _from Flourish and Blotts_, and we really should consider going to _Madam Mallakin's_ to buy some new protective clothing. Your lab coat is starting to fall apart."

"But I like my old one," Max mock-whined.

After which the couple burst out in laughter. The Demiguise walked in to investigate where the noise was coming from and sat down in his quickly becoming 'usual' place, in the far corner of the kitchen. When the egg timer rang Max gathered the mincemeat pie from the oven and turned it off. Alex sliced it into four pieces and put a quarter onto a plate, which she set down in front of the Demiguise. It even let her stroke it for a while before it started eating.

Alex returned to her seat and started eating herself. She asked Max to tell her all about what he did with the bear, and what had happened in town. Max told her how he had killed the bear and stripped it. He told her about the Mayor's reaction and how valuable a hide of a Brown bear apparently was, because Max didn't have to pay extra at all for his groceries. On the contrary, the shopkeeper had given him money upon leaving the store. He also commented about its abilities, theorising that the animal could have slight predictory powers and its obvious caring nature.

The Mayor had even come looking for him, before Max left, to tell him that the bear had most likely killed an old man. That man lived in a cabin upstream from the Croft compound. He had been the only person the Mayor hadn't been able to get a hold of over the phone, which was why they thought it must be him. One of the Villagers would go up there the next morning; to make sure what had happened to the old man.

After eating two slices of scrumptious, warm Cinnamon- Apple pie with delicious whipped cream, Alex withdrew to the library to update her notes. She wrote down everything that had happened that day that involved the Demiguise; including what Max had told her about its protective behaviour when she was asleep. She could now put a meaning to two of the colours the Demiguise used.

The dark, almost black, grey meant imminent danger for the Demiguise and everyone else in the area. Alex still felt honoured the animal hadn't simply turned invisible, to get away from the bear. The vivid blue meant concern maybe even love, but Alex wasn't completely sure yet. She was sure she would figure out the other colours eventually.

When she was finished, Alex urged her husband to come to bed with her. Apparating across continents was no picnic and they would need their rest. Just before falling to sleep, Alex noticed the Demiguise coming into the bedroom and settling on the foot of the bed.

The next morning, the house was in a right mess. Alex and Max were running around like mad. Max had taken some Multi-juice potion yesterday, and he had of course forgotten where he had put the container. The couple could not leave without it, for fear of recognition. After turning the house upside down, and scaring the Demiguise into invisibility a few times, Alex found the container on the bottom shelf of her spice cabinet. She wondered what had possessed her husband to put it there.

They both took a dose that would last a few hours and discussed about where they were going to Apparate to. After bickering about it for a few minutes, they settled on the little courtyard behind _the Leaky Cauldron_. The couple morphed into their public appearances, Mr. and Mrs. Warren, which seemed to be a well to do couple which most people would leave alone and Apparated.

In the courtyard of the _Leaky Cauldron_, they opened the wall and stepped into Diagon Alley. The Crofts had left the East Coast of Canada in the early morning, but due to the time difference, it was already noon in Great Britain. The couple split up, Max went in search of his Potion ingredients and Alex got on her way to _Flourish and Blotts_. They had agreed to meet at two thirty at Gringotts.

Due to the sinister nature of some of his ingredients, Max had to venture into Knockturn Alley. Not one of his favourite places on earth, but he kept his head high and supported an air of arrogance that told everyone who was looking, that he was not a man to be messed with. He strode through the street to a shop that seemed almost uninhabited; the windows were so covered in grime that no daylight could enter the premises. Max opened the door and stepped inside the scarcely illuminated - you only saw a candle or two - apothecary. The door had nudged a bell, which was summoning the shopkeeper.

Max had to wait for quite a while; the owner of the shop was a rather elderly man who apparently couldn't get around very well anymore. Once the man reached Max, he received a list of required products and started scurrying about collecting them. An 'ooh' or an 'ah' could sometimes be heard from his direction as the old man took down dusty containers from filth ridden shelves.

Max had apparently made some rare requests. No matter, after a while the old man had gathered everything Max wanted and was paid for his services. After which Max found himself back on the street. He strode back to Diagon Alley. Alex probably thought he would forget their anniversary but he hadn't. He was going to get her something really nice this year. He knew of a quality jeweller next to _Ollivander's_ and was purposefully heading in that direction.

Alex in the mean time had taken some time to do some window-shopping. She had been to _Flourish and Blotts_ and got the Sunrise-Sunset table and some other books she wanted for her research. She strolled around Diagon Alley and even wandered into a few shops. One of which seemed to be a joke shop, _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_, it was run by a set of red-haired twins. They claimed to have invented all their products themselves.

While she was in that store, she had seen people sprout feathers and loose them again within minutes. Alex had jumped about three feet into the air when she first saw a girl sprout feathers right in front of her. She was amazed by the inventiveness of the twins and talked to them for quite some time. Unfortunately, time flew by while she was having fun.

Alex had a stomach-ache from laughing too much when she arrived at Gringotts at two thirty to meet Max. She was carrying a second bag of goodies the twins had recommended; she was dying to try them out on her husband. When Max arrived a few minutes later, they set out for _Madam Mallakin's_.

Alex practically ran into a young boy with black unruly hair on their way over there. For some reason, he seemed familiar to Alex, but when she turned around to look more closely at him, he had already entered the law offices of Prouse, Hiatt and Wilberforce. It looked like he was accompanied by some more people, three with bright red hair, a man who was starting to turn grey and two young girls, one with flaming red hair and another one with bushy brown hair.

She shook her head and turned back to follow her husband who had stopped walking as well a few doors down, waiting for her to catch up. They walked into the dress shop and entertained themselves with picking out the most oddly coloured robes for eachother. Max finally bought a new pair of Dragon skin protective robes and had them wrapped up. The couple had dinner at _The Leaky Cauldron_ before Apparating home.

When she was getting ready for bed, Alex was still wandering who that young boy was, she was sure she recognised him from somewhere. Raven black messy hair, stringy build, the glasses,.... Something was off though, she thought it was his eyes. In her memory, the eyes were hazel brown, not emerald green.

_Chapter Four, Speaking One's Mind._


	4. Chapter four, speaking one's mind

_Chapter Four, Speaking One's Mind._

Harry hadn't had that great a night's rest because he was nervous. Added to the fact that Sirius was still young and not attuned to him it made for a very sleepless night. Harry woke up early in the morning on the fifth of August and spent the entire morning annoying the hell out of everyone by asking the same questions over and over again, "What is it going to be like? Am I wearing the right clothes? Should I wear a pair of black robes? Do you think it's wise to take Sirius along?"

Around ten in the morning, everyone had grown so tired of him that Mrs. Weasley sent him into the library and told him to keep busy by himself for a while. Harry played with Sirius, letting him walk over his arms and behind his head.

He was trying to teach him some tricks, but he wasn't doing very well because Sirius didn't understand what he was supposed to do. Harry didn't really mind he mainly just enjoyed the little tyke's presence. Just before lunch, he decided to leave Sirius in his bedroom. There were going to be a lot of people at the reading and he didn't want to upset his little pet.

Harry had enjoyed a great week since his birthday; he didn't have a lot of nightmares anymore, thanks to his new companion; the argument with his friends had been resolved and they had spent the entire week sleeping in, playing games or just talking deep into the night.

At one o'clock, Mrs. Weasley called everyone into the kitchen for lunch and Mr. Weasley had arrived back from work. He had taken the afternoon off to accompany Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione to the reading. They were all ready to go, but the 'mother hen' in Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let them leave until they all had a good lunch.

It was a very quiet lunch, Harry was thinking about what the reading might be like and therefore was quite distracted. The others didn't want to disturb him, so lunch passed without any conversation beyond the usual, "Could you please pass the butter?".

Around two, Mr. Weasley had arranged for two cars from the Ministry to come and pick them up on Grimmauld Street. They would drop them off in front of _The_ _Leaky Cauldron_ and wait there for their return. Mrs. Weasley checked everyone over before they left the house. This annoyed Ron because as always, she kept fussing about his robes. When they had all stepped outside, n° twelve Grimmauld place shrunk, to reveal nothing more than n° eleven and thirteen attached to each other.

Harry, Ron and Hermione got into one of the cars and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Remus shared the other one. The drive to _The_ _Leaky Cauldron_ took a lot of time because of the impossible traffic in London. Harry was pleased that the Ministry cars seemed able to slip into the smallest openings, because he feared they might otherwise be late.

At two thirty on the dot, they were getting out of the cars in front of _The_ _Leaky Cauldron_. Harry hurried everyone through the bar; out back, he tapped on the bricks to open the wall.

Harry was in so much of a hurry that he almost ran over a tall, beautiful woman who was coming from the other direction. Harry was so preoccupied with not being late that he didn't even stop to apologise. Nevertheless, when the party entered the lobby of the Law Offices of Prouse, Hiatt and Wilberforce the door to the reading hall was still wide open and the hall itself was still half-empty. The only people Harry recognised were, Tonks sitting with what looked like her parents and Mad-Eye Moody quietly talking to Professor Dumbledore.

Harry and company sat down in the front of the hall on the right hand side. People kept walking into the hall until it was time to start the reading. Some recognised friends and sat together; others came in alone and chose a remote seat in the back. Just before the Notary, Mr. Prouse, was about to commence the reading, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy barged in through the doors, that had been closed just five minutes before.

They walked up to the front and insisted that they be accommodated there. A few people got up and moved into the back. Harry glared at Draco and his mother, for disturbing the peaceful atmosphere in the hall.

At that moment, the Notary started talking:

"Good afternoon everyone; we at Prouse, Hiatt and Wilberforce, welcome you all to our premises on this day, the day of the reading of Mr. Sirius Black's Will. If everyone is comfortably seated, I will check the guest list to make sure that everyone Mr. Black wanted to address is present and then we will start the reading."

Harry watched the Notary walk around with a roll of parchment, who was checking names off against it, when he spoke to certain people. The older man ended up at the front again and asked first the Malfoy's, then Harry and the others after their identities. When he was satisfied, he rolled up his parchment and walked into a small room off to the left of the hall. He came back out with a rather large deep royal blue crystal. After placing it on a table in front of the hall, he withdrew to a seat in the side pews and sat down next to two scribes. Harry thought they were most likely the ones making the transcripts of the reading.

The crystal had been glowing when the Notary had brought it out, and now that it was placed on the table, the glow intensified. After five minutes, the glow disappeared and the outline of a person appeared in front of the table. It was Sirius, looking much better then the last time Harry had seen him at Grimmauld Place.

The figure started speaking:

_"If I am standing before you this day, it means my soul has left this plane of existence and more than likely this has occurred far too early in my life. I have stored this last will and testament to ensure no one unworthy will receive even a Knut of my family fortune merely because there was lack of a proper Will. _

_"Before I start dividing my assets, I have a few things that need to be said. For if I have died these, are things that must not be forgotten. My family has always been pureblood, because it considered itself superior to those of Muggle or half-blood descent. However, with my death, the Black Family line dies out, and so be it. There are more deserving family-lines than mine. _

_"I especially wish to mention my cousin, who I got to know too late in life, Nymphadora Tonks, the daughter to Andromeda and Ted Tonks._

_"Now, my family has never been a follower of 'Voldemort'"._

A shudder went through the hall when the figure said the all dreaded word. To Harry, it seemed like the temperature inside the room had dropped a few degrees.

_"... but nevertheless, my parents did support the pure blooded ideas of that madman, not realising that 'Voldemort' himself, was a half blood._

_"I have spent twelve years in Azkaban, convicted without a trial, for an act I did not commit. Now in death, where I have no fear of retribution, I accuse Peter Pettigrew, who is still very much alive, of being an accomplice in the murders of James and Lily Potter; of killing and injuring 13 innocent Muggles in the successful attempt to frame me._

_"He has since committed many more offences, some that even I am not aware of I am sure. I have set up with this firm, a bounty of ten thousand Galleons on his head so that my name is cleared even after my death. The money is to be awarded to anyone who can bring him before a court of law. Beware of him, for he is an Animagus in the form of a Rat with a silver paw where his own used to be._

_"Now, to continue with the actual reason why most of you are here: the division of my assets. I will start with my only living relatives. Andromeda Tonks, her daughter Nymphadora Tonks, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, you are all descendants of the Black family line who no longer carry the family name. Andromeda, you were disinherited by my parents upon marrying your husband Ted. I sincerely hope you had an incredibly happy and fulfilled life and I have set aside 50 000 Galleons for you and your family._

_"Narcissa Malfoy, I loathe the family you married into, a family whose goals you are furthering even at this very moment. Your husband is one of the 'Death-Eaters' known to me and it will not surprise me if your son will be joining 'his' ranks very soon."_

A few people got out of the chairs right behind the Malfoy's and moved over to some free seats further in the back, away from the furious family.

_"Narcissa, I leave you nothing because I will not stand for my money being used to help your husband in any way. I have however set up a trust fund for you and your son in the amount of 20 000 Galleons. This trust fund will only be available to you and your son, if you and Draco leave your husband. By leaving him, I do mean divorce him and publicly denounce him and his evil ways._

_"In the event that you stay with Lucius and do not fulfil these requirements, the trust, which has been established by the Goblins at Gringotts, will never come into your hands. There is one more stipulation to this trust: if these terms are not accepted, within ten years of this day, the amount, and the revenue it has generated fall back to my primary heir._

_"To Bellatrix Lestrange, my last cousin, I leave nothing. She, as a convicted 'Death Eater' will never receive anything from me except for my loathing._

_"To Albus Dumbledore I leave the house I spent my last days in, to use as he pleases. I do not care if it is used or torn down, for if worst came to happen, I spent but a few happy days there in the last months of my life._

_"To Remus Lupin I leave my Cottage in Godric's Hollow, to be enjoyed and lived in again, my dearest friend. _

_"Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger are to receive a grand scholarship, to enable both of them to study and buy books to their hearts content. This may be more to the young woman's liking, but Mr. Weasley may share the scholarship with his younger sister._

_"To my Primary Heir, Harry Potter, I leave everything else. The houses, partnerships in companies and funds my family acquired over the centuries are all yours. An exact record can be viewed at these offices under the watchful eye of the honoured Aurelius Prouse._

_"Harry for the past few years, even though I didn't get to know you as well as I would have liked, you were the son I always wanted. Your parents are proud of you, just as I am, never ever doubt that. Harry, I am sorry to leave you so soon after I found you but it had to be. Love you always."_

Then the figure started to fade and Harry could have sworn that the last thing it did was wave at him.... The crystal on the table was now clear, the essence of Sirius had gone to join the rest of his soul.

The first people to leave were the Malfoy's. Narcissa was ranting to her son about undeserving family members and other issues, but Harry couldn't overhear much, from where he was sitting. Next thing Harry knew the Notary was next to him.

"Mr. Potter would you please follow me to my offices?" uttered the Notary in a very quiet and serene voice.

"All right, do you mind if the others join me?" Harry asked.

"No of course not, if you trust these people they are welcome to join you," Mr. Prouse replied.

The whole group followed Mr. Prouse out of the Hall into the lobby, after which he lead them up the stairs and down a corridor to the last door on the right. There was a brass plaque on the door that read 'Aurelius Prouse, President of the Board'. They walked into a large office, containing a desk and a seating area. Mr. Prouse invited everyone to take a seat there before walking over to his desk and taking out some papers from one of the drawers.

Mr. Prouse pushed his desk chair over to the others because the seats were taken and sat down. Harry was sitting in an armchair opposite the Notary; Ron and Hermione had taken their seats on the arms of his chair due to the lack of other places to sit. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting on a sofa to Harry's right. Remus and Ginny had taken the sofa to Harry's left.

"Now Mr. Potter," the Notary began, "Mr. Black named you as his Primary Heir, which means that all the property stated in these papers is yours. Along with the money he left in his vaults at Gringotts as well as investments made by his family and himself in several different companies all over the globe. Because he actually called you his 'Heir', you also inherit his title, Mr. Black was the last 'Baronet of Godric's Hollow' a title he inherited, when he was seventeen, from a Grand Uncle."

Harry was stumped at the explanation given to him by Mr. Prouse. It was all so much! Ever since he knew he was a Wizard, Harry hadn't needed to worry about money. He looked at the papers the Notary had given him; they represented millions and millions of Galleons.

"Mr. Potter, your Godfather also appointed someone to manage your affairs until you are no longer a minor," the Notary continued. "Should I ask him to meet you some time soon, so he can explain what your inheritance completely entails?"

"Yes, please, sir," said Harry with a shaky voice, "If you could arrange that, it would be very nice. Now would you mind, sir, if we left? I don't think I'm able to process all this right now." Harry stood up out of his armchair.

"That is quite all right Sir, I have seen many Wizard Will readings, and even I was surprised by some of the things the late Mr. Black said. I shall escort you out and send an owl 'round later to make an appointment with your estate manager," Mr. Prouse said before he got up, "Mister Potter, I would like to add that if ever you have any questions. You should feel free to write to me, and I would be very willing to aid you in any way possible to me."

He escorted them back downstairs to the lobby where he said his final goodbyes and disappeared into one of the doors on the left.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, with a little help from Remus, ushered everyone over to _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_, to enable everyone to calm down and to vent their feelings. Harry ordered Florean's special Sundays for everyone. Ron and Ginny were teasing him about being a Nobleman now. The atmosphere soon returned to normal, with everyone smiling, laughing and talking about other things than the reading.

When Harry checked his watch, it was almost six o'clock. They walked back through _The_ _Leaky Cauldron_ and waited for the Ministry cars, which delivered them safely back to Grimmauld Place. Once they arrived, Mrs. Weasley burst into action to make them supper with a little help from Hermione and Ginny, but not before they chased Harry and Ron out of the kitchen.

Harry walked up the stairs to his bedroom to get Sirius. He had missed the creatures' presence on his shoulders. When Harry walked through his bedroom door, he was almost bowled over by an overjoyed Sirius, who had clearly missed him too. Sirius was only a small creature, but he had built up some strength and weight since he had been around Harry, the companionship was doing both partners a world of good.

Harry even thought the little marmoset was starting to look like him, because a white spot on Sirius' forehead was starting to look like a lightning bolt that struck an uncanny resemblance to the one on Harry's forehead. He let Sirius climb back on his shoulder and walked back down the stairs to find Remus. Maybe Buckbeak needed to be fed or something; Harry wanted to keep busy.

Harry found Remus in the library, where he was looking through an obscure book on Vampires.

"Remus, I was wondering whether Buckbeak needs feeding?" he asked.

"No, Harry, I already gave him his rations this morning. Why do you want to know?"

"Well I kind off want to keep busy, that Notary dumped a lot of stuff on me today and I'm not sure I can deal with all of that yet. Don't you have anything else I can do around here?"

Remus smiled at Harry and said, "Of course, there is plenty to do around here; this library for instance it is filled to the brim with books, but either the Black's were shabby librarians, or someone removed the inventory that was supposed to be around. You could make a new one, a new inventory I mean. Involve Ron and Hermione if you want. You might even find there are some rare books in here, just waiting to be discovered."

Harry wasn't completely thrilled with the idea, but it was his idea to keep busy. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, working together with his friends. At least Hermione would be excited about the whole thing, seeing as she adored books. The older they got, the more she loved them. He walked to the kitchen and for the first time noticed something different. The painting of Sirius' Mother, it was gone.

When Harry entered the kitchen, he asked Mrs. Weasley if she knew what had happened to the horrid painting in the Hall. She told him that when she arrived in the kitchen she had found a note from Professor Dumbledore. She rummaged around in her apron for a moment or so and gave him a piece of parchment.

_Dearest Molly,_

_I am sure you have noticed some changes around the house and are most likely wondering which ingrate has been in here since you left. Do not be alarmed; the changes are merely the result of Sirius' legacy and the house now belonging to me. _

_When the house fell out of the Black family line, all Black family magic weakened. When I arrived back here after four o'clock, I was able to remove the painting of Sirius' Mother, the tapestry in the living room and the stuffed House Elf heads._

_Molly, not all of the spells the Black's placed on this house have appeared to us, and I caution you to be careful around the house. I have placed a protection charm on the house, which should make other spells visible. If a spell is present, it will appear in a ghostly white wisp of smoke._

_I have also requested Alastor to pay you a few visits over the next few weeks. If you would lead him to where spells appear, he will deal with them appropriately. Unless you are unequivocally sure you can handle it, leave the more exotic ones to him. _

_Yours truly,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry was relieved; no more depressing wailing's from Mrs. Black, no more House Elf heads mounted on the kitchen wall. All and all he thought the atmosphere in the house had changed for the better.

Then he remembered the reason he had come to the kitchen in the first place and asked, "Hermione, I'm going to make a new inventory for the library, would you like to help?"

She squealed with excitement. "Of course Harry, I would love to."

Mrs. Weasley interrupted them, "Harry and Hermione, would you two please go and fetch the rest of the family, dinner is ready. Ginny, love would you help me set the table?"

"Sure mum," Ginny grumbled.

After dinner, Harry and Hermione went to sit down in the living room to wait for Ron. He had to help his mum with the dishes today. When he walked in about ten minutes later, they told him they were going to make a new inventory of the Black library starting tomorrow. His eyes almost popped out when Harry said it was his idea.

"Harry, you are not pulling a 'Hermione' on me are you? You and books, we only go near those things if we really need to. Why would we want to spend the rest of our vacation sifting through those dusty old books?"

Hermione glared at Ron, "Ron you would think you were allergic to dust the way you avoid manual labour as much as possible. If Harry wants to keep busy, he can do that any way he wants to. And what exactly did you mean with that comment about pulling a 'Hermione'?"

Ron, who realised he had just put his foot in this mouth, thought it best to keep quiet and stay out of trouble for the rest of the evening. By now, Harry and Hermione were talking about what they would need to make an inventory of the Library. Hermione had gone upstairs to get some parchment and a quill from her room and started to make a list.

"We are going to need a notebook to write the inventory in," she said, "and a pair of Dragon hide gloves, because I've read somewhere that some old books have their own defensive capabilities, like needles that push out of the spine of the books with poison on them. Also we are going to need a few quills, I think one for each of us, should do."

"Add a book on how to deal with books that have a mind of their own to that list, will you." Harry said, thinking to himself 'I've had enough experience with screaming books after my midnight trips in the restricted section of the library. And especially after that diary incident with Tom Riddle's Journal, I don't want to take any chances.'

While the Trio got ready for bed that night, they made plans to go to Diagon Alley in the morning to get their supplies and get right on starting the inventory. When the boys went to sleep that night, they didn't notice the white wisp of smoke that hovered above the door. Only the little Royal Marmoset was unnerved by the sight and tried to wake his master by twittering in his ear. However, Harry, who had already slipped into a deep sleep, did not hear him.

The next morning, or what appeared to be the next morning to Harry and Ron, they found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hustling and bustling nervously around. Harry also saw Remus in a corner and Professor Dumbledore standing next to his bed. He noticed this was not the same bed he had fallen asleep in the night before.

"Professor Dumbledore, where am I?" he asked.

The Professor answered him, "You and your friend Ronald are at St. Mungo's Harry. The Healers have been trying to wake you for a week. You and Ron were the subjects of a Spell we call the 'Sleep of the Dead'. Fortunately the spell Mrs. Black placed upon the room was already sufficiently weakened by my protection charm or you two might have slept for years."

"Sir, I didn't hear any spell! Or saw one, for that matter," Harry replied, incredulous.

"When I came into your bedroom a week ago, I couldn't wake you two up. Then I noticed your little Marmoset; it was trying to attack something that was hovering above the door. I immediately notified Alastor, like Professor Dumbledore had asked me. When Alastor came over, he ordered the two of you to St. Mungo's and started breaking the curses and spells that were hidden through-out the house," said a very relieved Mrs. Weasley, who was in the process of smothering her youngest son.

"Professor Dumbledore, we've slept in that room since last year. Why didn't this spell go off before?" Ron asked still trying to worm out of his mother's embrace.

"That is an excellent question, young master Weasley, one that isn't easy to answer. In my opinion, it is the result of a combination of factors that these spells have only surfaced now.

"Since I do not believe, that Mrs. Black intended to injure or discomfort any of her family members, I am led to believe, that as long as there was a member of the Black family line or a servant loyal to that line present; all the other inhabitants were quite safe.

"Unfortunately just before the summer, Sirius passed away and just a few weeks ago, Kreacher also met his demise, which removed those last protective barriers.

"We also should not forget to mention the enormous significance of the house's ownership being transferred to me. I believe that was the final straw and the unequivocal proof of the spiteful and vengeful spirit of the late Mrs. Black."

"Professor, what exactly does that 'Sleep of the Dead' spell do?" Harry asked. "And why do you make it sound as if we are incredibly lucky to be awake again?"

"It makes you sleep, dear boy, unfortunately it makes you sleep for years and years at a time. However, since we are human, we are not capable of sustaining our life force without nutrition and water, like for instance, Brown bears when they hibernate.

"No 'the Sleep of the Dead' curse has been responsible for at least twelve deaths in the last century alone. A few people have survived this curse before, mainly because either the caster was inept, or because the curse missed its target and only slightly influenced the victim. You two are now officially the eighth and the ninth person to survive this curse since its conception by a long forgotten evil Wizard."

"Oh great, another thing people are going to ogle me over," Harry shouted to no one in particular. In a regretful voice he added, "I'm sorry Professor, but I really didn't need another thing to be special at. I'm tired of being the 'Boy-Who-Lived' all the time. I just want to be me." All of the sudden Harry really missed his Godfather, the sense of being protected, feeling safe again.

"By the way, where is Sirius?" he asked while looking around the room to see if his little pet was around somewhere.

Remus answered, "Harry, he was so stressed out when we had to take you here and you didn't return right away. I put him back into his stasis box to spare him the agony of not having you near him. I feared it might interrupt the bonding process for you two to be separate for too long. Also I learned from the Healers here that animals are never allowed on the wards I thought it best this way."

A Healer came into the private room Harry and Ron shared and chased everyone off. "Visiting hours are over, you can all come back again tomorrow. Now that these boys have awakened, they will soon be going home anyway. Out you go, all of you."

She physically escorted Mrs. Weasley to the door, and when she returned, she was pushing a trolley that sported two dishes of soup, two spoons, two glasses and a pitcher of milk. She helped Ron and Harry sit up straight in their beds with the help of a few more pillows, and set up their dinner before them.

Harry asked, "Can we get some bread and cheese with this soup?"

The Healer answered in a very gentle voice, "I am afraid not dear, you two haven't eaten anything in a week, your stomach's wouldn't be able do deal with it now. You two need to start up slow again. First liquid food and from there you can start building up your strength again."

Harry sighed and started eating his soup, while Ron complained about how little there was. Harry was even glad that Ron didn't start a tirade about the lack of salt in the soup.

The two of them had been asleep for a week, but that didn't change the fact that Harry felt like he had been running a marathon, if only in his head. With his little friend's absence, the nightmares about his Godfather, Cedric and Voldemort had returned. Harry couldn't remember them very well, because they were deeply tucked away in his subconscious, but the fatigue that followed them quickly carted Harry back to sleep after he had finished his supper.

Harry awoke multiple times that night, screaming in agony, upsetting the Healers, who finally gave him a really strong dose of Dreamless Sleep Potion.

When they were released from St. Mungo's three days later, Harry and Ron were able to eat bread, cheese and several vegetables. The Healers had given Mrs. Weasley a list, which included a timetable, of what they could and could not eat for a while. To Ron's regret, steak was still on the list he couldn't eat.

_Chapter Five, Breakthrough._


	5. Chapter five, Breakthrough

_Chapter Five, Breakthrough_.

"Alex, could you please come in here and take Orion somewhere else. He is freaking out my lab rats again."

Since the 'bear-incident' Alex had decided the Demiguise had earned himself a name. After she and Max came back from Diagon Alley, Alex had performed a few diagnostic spells on him. Those had clarified that Orion was a three year old, perfectly healthy male. Alex had thought of 'Orion' because of its protective attitude towards them.

With a sigh, Alex stood up from behind her desk. Why couldn't Max solve the problem himself? It wasn't like he couldn't get the animal out of the room on his own. When Alex walked into Max's lab, she saw Orion hopping up and down and scurrying around the cages containing the rats. He was changing colour back and forth, from crimson red to royal blue. He seemed confused as to whether he wanted to attack the rats and eat them or protect them. It was then she realised Max had called her in for the fun of it, seeing Orion jump up and down while changing colour was a real hoot.

Max had bought five white rats, a week ago at a Muggle pet store, to use as test subjects for a new potion he had been working on. From the moment the rats entered the door, Orion had been all over them, pushing and shaking the cages, putting his slim agile fingers through the bars, occasionally getting them nipped by the panicked rats. He was very clearly scaring the rats senseless.

When Alex called out to him, Orion looked up and immediately retreated three feet, away from the cages. His pelt turned to a silvery grey; the colour of apprehension, as Alex had learned to distinguish.

"Come along Orion, leave the poor little rats alone," Alex said while pointing out the door, "Shame on you for scaring them so." She chuckled when she saw him retreating from the cages.

Orion looked at the rats longingly for a few more minutes and then slowly sauntered out the room, following Alex into the hallway. Alex closed the door behind them and left Max to lock the door from the inside. Through the door, she could hear a faint 'thank you' and a suppressed chuckle, confirming her suspicions that Max thought Orion was a right laugh.

Simply closing the door had become ineffective at keeping Orion out as he proved two days ago by figuring out how door handles worked. Pull them down and out and the door opens, really simple and Orion was an extremely clever animal.

He had learned that when Alex or Max said 'Orion', they meant him and he reacted to his name very swiftly. He had quickly assimilated to living with humans and walked about the house as if he owned the place. Alex simply adored him, which Orion used to his advantage to get more treats.

Today he had gotten into Max's Potion lab by following him into the room while he was invisible. Max didn't even know he was there until Orion reappeared himself jumping up and down. Max thought it was a really funny sight but he couldn't work with completely terrified rats, it might contaminate his findings.

After getting Orion out of Max's way, Alex walked back to her desk in the library, hoping to get on with her own work. Orion followed her in his everyday colour, a light and indistinct beige; he seemed to like her presence more than he liked Max's. The only thing he seemed to like more around the house, were the rats and Alex wasn't entirely sure whether she should think of that as a compliment.

Three weeks of studying Orion's movements and actions had provided Alex with a lot of new information. She had compiled a list of foods the Demiguise ate, which included both vegetables and meat, a detailed description of all its behaviour - including his behaviour pertaining to contact with humans, animals (mostly just his attitude toward the rats and the bear), its sleeping and awakening habits. Most notable was his ability to learn quickly.

The most important list she was working on was the list of colours and their significance. Alex figured she knew the meaning of six different colours by now, but Orion was still occasionally showing new ones. This meant that her list kept growing. She also thought she knew how Demiguises produced the different colours. She suspected they had worked out a technique to break light. It would account for their invisibility, as well as for the wide range of colours Orion was presenting.

Alex had bought a few books on mystical creatures, two weeks ago at Diagon Alley. She was now trying to classify the Demiguise, and in the process, came across an animal with a lot of similar characteristics to the Demiguise. If you stripped the magical abilities away from the Demiguise his behaviour was remarkably similar to that of a Bonobo Chimp a genetically close relative of humans. Alex had discovered in a Muggle book on Chimpanzees.

Right now Orion couldn't care less if he was Max's second cousin twice removed; he was curled up in front of the fireplace, quietly enjoying a midday nap. He didn't have a care in the world; all was well with him and his adopted family. Yes, he had adopted them even if the humans thought differently. When he had seen Alex sitting across from him at the riverbank way back then, he had sensed something important was going to happen to her in the future. He sensed he would be needed and decided to forego his natural caution of humans and walked into their house later that night.

He hadn't regretted his decision yet; his family was nice and genuinely seemed to care about him. The house was warm and felt safe to him now. There was always enough food for him around; he especially liked the apples, which he had never tasted before he walked into the house. And right now, lying in front of a roaring fire seemed right; fire, which had previously scared him senseless because of its sheer destructive power.

ïïïï

On a rug in front of a different fireplace, in a different house, in another country, another animal was curled up and deep in thought, listening to the sound of her scales rubbing against each other while she coiled her body around and around. At least she was until her Master walked through the door.

"Worthless, the lot of them," spat a furious Wizard to no one in particular because there was no one else in the room to hear, "Not a one that can fulfil even the simple task of keeping an eye on a sixteen year old boy. I've had my fill of their excuses."

"But Master he simply disappeared after those ministry cars dropped them off at Grimmauld Street." He imitated the whimpering excuse, one of the new recruits had made, and growled in anger, "I will get you Harry Potter, I will get you yet. And soon!"

When the man plopped down in a battered old armchair, she raised her head and slithered over to see if he wanted her services. Noticing her approach, he waved her away.

"You are the only truly loyal servant I have, Nagini. You are the only one who has never failed me. Wormtail should be here soon with your food. If he knows what is good for him at least. If he doesn't you can eat him instead. At least then he would be put to good use."

Nagini returned to her rug and positioned herself so she was facing the door, waiting eagerly for her meal, which came around only once every two weeks. She was hoping for a large rabbit or maybe even for a couple of white ferrets. Last time all she got was a couple of rats, too scrawny to make a good meal, and she had bitten the bold little man as punishment. The result had been a festering sore on his ankle that had lasted for over a week. She needed a good meal this time to keep up her strength.

An hour or two later, it was already growing dark outside, a tiny balding man in tattered old clothes slipped in the back door with a large sack on his back. Inside, he tapped on the door of the living room, to let anyone inside know he was coming. Anyone foolish enough to barge in unannounced, would be on the receiving end of a powerful curse for their insolence, one that would most likely kill them.

Once inside, Wormtail dropped to all fours and crawled forward to kiss the hem of his Masters robes.

"Did you get something good for Nagini this time Wormtail? She was complaining last time. If she is not satisfied this time, I will have to live up to my promise to her and let her eat you instead."

"Yes, M-M-Mast-er-r," stuttered the cringing man, who crawled away from the armchair, back in the direction of the large sack.

He stood up and walked slowly in the direction of the fireplace keeping his eyes on the floor. The last thing he wanted was to anger his Master or the large snake in front of him. He reached into the sack and removed a large chicken and a hare. He then looked at his Master to see if he would be spared.

His Master spoke to the snake in a language Wormtail didn't understand and didn't want to understand. It sounded horrid; the hissing sounds emanating from a human mouth.

"Are you content with this offering, Nagini?"

"Yesss, Massster. I am content, for once thisss rat hasss provided an adequate amount of food that might actually tassste good."

Wormtail visibly relaxed when he saw the snake advancing on the hare and swallowing it whole. He was saved for another day. He then slowly retreated out of the room and walked up to the second floor of the dilapidated building to the room he called his.

A small concrete box, with wallpaper peeling off the walls and paint chipping from the ceiling. A bed in the corner with some ragged blankets and a table in the middle with a single wobbly chair. That was all he had to show for his thirty seven years.

He sat down on his chair and counted his blessings for having made it through another day in the presence of the most evil wizard of his time. 'Voldemort', even though he was one of 'His' followers, Peter could not bring himself to even say the word. That was, of course, the way his Master instilled fear in all his followers and enemies. Make people fear the word and there is no telling where the fear will end if ever confronted by the real thing.

Ever since he had been stupid enough to travel to Albania a little over two years ago, he had grown to regret every single step he had made. It was the single most deplorable thing he had done. He had returned the scourge of the Wizarding world to health and body. Ever since, he had sought ways of undoing this vile thing.

Two years he had looked in libraries through numerous volumes of books, trying to find a way to undo the ancient magic Voldemort had wrought with the use of the bones of his father, the blood of an archenemy and the flesh donated by a willing servant. Peter might have gotten a fully functional silver hand in return but he wished he had had the spine to refuse the willpower of his master.

He thought he now had the answer right in front of him...his Master might live to regret having used the Potter boy's blood after all.

ïïïï

"Alex, Alex come quick!" shouted Max, "Hurry up, come here!"

Alex was annoyed that Max had disturbed her yet again! "What is it now, do I have to get Orion out of there again?" she said when she walked up to the door of the Potions lab, "Well, if you want me in there so very badly, the least you could do is open the door already."

"Oops sorry love, I closed it this morning, didn't want a repeat of yesterday with Orion," Max stammered while he muttered the charm to undo the locks.

"Well then if you don't need me to get Orion out of your way then what is it?" Alex asked. She was getting curious.

"It worked, my potion worked. For the first time in years it finally did it!" exclaimed Max, who was beside himself.

"Honey, what do you mean, which potion? I know you've had a new pet project for a while, but you never tell me about them. Now calm down and explain. What happened?" she dragged her husband into the kitchen and started to make some tea.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Orion trying to get into the Potion lab while it was unguarded, "Orion, stop that! Come in here, quickly now and leave those poor rats alone."

Orion walked over to her clearly ashamed; he was sporting a mottled greenish colour, another one Alex could add to her list. He jumped up and sat down on the kitchen counter. Alex closed the kitchen door and started to put everything they needed on the table.

With the cups of hot tea in front of them, Alex urged Max to start talking.

"Darling, you know as well as I do that the most important part of our contract was to look for ways to protect people against the Unforgivables," Max started, "and over the years you and I have tried to do just that in vain, me by looking for new means of Transfiguration. You by trying to charm items to project protective barriers and I have tried several potions to achieve that exact result."

He chuckled, "But I think I did it this time though. I was almost ready to give up on this potion. I gave it one last try and poured some into one of the rats' drinking water. That was about an hour ago, I gave the potion some time to gain effect and then sent a Killing curse at the rat.

"Alex, it is still alive...."

Alex was in awe, "You cannot be serious." She got up out of her chair. "Where is this rat, I want to see it now!"

"I'll show you dear, come with me," Max walked out of the kitchen still holding on to his teacup.

Alex followed suit, when they closed the door to the Potions lab behind them; Max pointed out a cage in the rear and said, "That one, but I should warn you it changed colour. I am not sure if he will eventually change back or remain black. But compared to death it is a mild side effect wouldn't you say?"

Alex peered into the cage and looked at the rat. Max was right, last week he had walked in with five white rats and now there were only four, the fifth had died yesterday because the potion hadn't been complete then, but one of them was now as black as coal.

Tears started flooding Alex's eyes, "Max, my darling, you are a genius. You might have single handed saved the Wizarding world from those animals that call themselves Dark Lords." She hugged her husband tightly. "We should celebrate and send word to Albus that we might have a solution, he really should be the first to know."

Alex and Max Apparated to London that night to celebrate their accomplishments. When they appeared behind the Leaky Cauldron, their disguises were already in place. Mr. Warren tapped on the bricks, opened the entryway to Diagon Alley, and escorted his wife through. They made their way down to Whitmore Lane, the place to shop for those with lots of money to spend, and the place to look for exquisite restaurants to savour delicious foods and fine wines.

When Mr. and Mrs. Warren arrived at the waiters station at the 'Quartier du Coeur', a restaurant of excellent reputation, the waiter immediately showed them to a secluded table in the back of the dining room, gave them menus, and presented Max with the winelist. Max ordered them a five-course meal. When the waiter returned ten minutes later to see if they had decided, Max requested that the wine they would be served would complement the dishes they would be eating.

Alex enjoyed herself immensely, it wasn't very often that they would spoil themselves like this. In fact, it wasn't often enough. Living in the middle of nowhere meant that she did all of the cooking herself and generally, only water appeared on the table to accompany the food. Consequently, Alex was, in fact, more then just a bit tipsy when the couple left the restaurant.

Max decided then and there that they had better stay the night in London. There was no way that Alex could Apparate in the state she was in. They walked, no, Max walked and carried Alex to one of the more high-class hotels on the street and booked them a room for the night. Once in their room Max lay his wife down on the bed, pulled the covers over her, and sat down in an armchair nearby, just to watch her sleep.

The next morning found the couple entangled on the bed, all the covers removed but one. Alex woke up and opened her eyes to see her husband right in front of her. She woke him up by kissing him on his forehead, his nose and finally his lips. The last kiss did it and Max's dark brown eyes opened a little spark making them twinkle as he kissed her back.

Two hours later the Crofts checked out of the hotel. Fortunately Alex had carried two extra doses of Multi-Potion along or their cover might have been blown. Max had written a letter on a piece of hotel stationary and the couple walked down to the Post Office on Diagon Alley.

Once there, Alex selected a high speed, emergency delivery. The post office attendant walked down the line of postal birds, mostly different kinds of owls, but the Diagon Alley office also carried several falcons for emergency deliveries. They were the property of the Ministry and usually only used by it, but when the birds where in the Post Offices care, other people were welcome to use them as well. The attendant came back with one and showed her to Alex. She approved and attached the letter to the falcon's leg. Max then paid the elevated price for the emergency delivery.

Max took the falcon from the young man and they walked out of the Post Office, where Max gave it a flying start and they watched the falcon fly off over London before Apparating back home.

ïïïï

At Hogwarts, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were having lunch in one of the Courtyard gardens of the castle. They were some of the few people who spent the entire summer at Hogwarts. Most of the other teachers went home over the summer, to spend time with family when they could. The only teacher that was there, that hadn't joined his colleagues out in the courtyard today was Severus Snape, who was totally engrossed in brewing Potions in his Dungeon.

"Oh my, oh my, those House Elves really are bored aren't they," said an amused Headmaster, "They absolutely insisted on making every single thing they could think of today."

"Yes, quite, but they are always bored during the summers, there simply isn't enough for them to do," Professor McGonagall answered, "Albus, there is falcon trying to get your attention, I think. In that tree over there." She pointed at the cherry tree that adorned the courtyard with a little shade.

Professor Dumbledore got out of his seat, walked over to the tree, and extended his hand for the falcon to sit on. The animal hopped on and extended his leg to fulfil his duty and deliver his letter as soon as possible. The Professor removed the letter he found and thanked the bird before releasing it.

"Curious, who would send me an emergency letter in the middle of summer. That was not a Ministry falcon, this letter does not have their seal, Albus muttered to himself.

"Minerva, I'm going to my office, see you later today or if I have other duties, then I'll see you in the morning," he said in a distracted voice while walking towards the French doors that opened out from his office onto the courtyard.

"Until tomorrow then, Headmaster," he got in response. Professor McGonagall was getting up herself as well. She had a lot of letters to send out this summer, the school had received a lot of requests to admit transfer students. Probably because of the rise of Voldemort again, thought Minerva to herself. Not that Professor McGonagall could blame their parents. Hogwarts was the safest place to be for children when Voldemort was around.

When the Headmaster arrived in his study, he sat down and opened the letter.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_We've done it; we finally found a way to 'protect' people. A charm  
bracelet will appear at five minutes to six o'clock tonight (If this  
letter is received by the correct person), hold on to this letter  
until it does. The bracelet is a Port Key; it will transport you to  
our location so we can discuss any further actions._

_We have not informed the Ministry of Magic, because we have been out of the loop for 15 years and do not know the internal situation and more importantly the security status of the people around there. We hope you will be able to assist us in finding a way to brief our superiors._

_Yours truly, Alexandra and Maximilian Croft._

Now Professor Dumbledore was truly stumped, Alex and Max, he hadn't heard from them for at least fifteen years. They were actually rumoured to be kidnapped and dead in the aftermath of the first downfall of Voldemort. Could they really have found a way to protect against the 'Avada Kedavra' curse? Oh, he truly hoped so.

"Dobby!" the Professor called out, "Dobby! I need you for a moment."

With a crack, the little House Elf appeared in front of the Headmasters' desk.

"Yes, Sirs. Whats can Dobby do for great Headmaster Dumbledore, Sirs?" the little creature stammered.

"Dobby, I need you to take a letter to Grimmauld Place for me. And I want you to remain there. I want you to look out for Mr. Potter while he is still recovering. You could help Mrs. Weasley with the housework. First, I would like you go to Professor McGonagall's office and tell her that I will be elsewhere for the evening and might have important news when I come back. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Sirs," Dobby saluted and started to leave.

"Dobby, when you have delivered that message to Professor McGonagall, come back here. I will have the letter I want you to bring to Grimmauld Place ready by then."

The House Elf disappeared with another crack to deliver his message. Professor Dumbledore started to write a short note to Remus Lupin, excusing himself for the Order Meeting that was supposed to take place tonight and explaining the extraordinary circumstances. He did specify the need to keep this possible defence against the killing curse a secret for now.

The Professor started packing some things into his overnight bag, you never knew what might happen. The note he had received from the Crofts and their long disappearance from his attention had made it clear to him that wherever he was going tonight, it wouldn't be to a nice little cottage in the country. You never knew.

At five minutes to six o'clock, on the dot, a charm bracelet appeared before Professor Dumbledore on his desk, he put it on the and mentally went down a list of all the things that needed to be done before he left. Dobby had gone to Grimmauld Place at five, McGonagall had been warned and Remus would be in charge of the Order meeting.

Everything was in order and when the grandfather clock in his office chimed six, he felt the familiar pulling behind his navel and was whisked away to his mystery destination.

_Chapter Six, Gaining the Advantage._


	6. Chapter Six, Gaining the Advantage

_Chapter Six: Gaining the Advantage._

After returning from St. Mungo's, Harry and Ron still had to spend a lot of time in their beds, trying to regain their strength. They were only allowed to eat little amounts of food, meals regularly spread out during the day to spare their stomachs from too much strain.

Mrs. Weasley was so happy to have her 'boys' back, that she willingly spent all her time in the kitchen making soup, boiling fresh vegetables and scooping nice, soft and gooey ice-cream. The list the Healers had given her had been enlarged, until it was four times its original size (If it had been any larger, you could have read the boy's diet description from across the street.) Mrs. Weasley had attached it to the mantle of the fireplace and it was adhered to very strictly, to Ron's growing regret.

The only upside to the whole thing for Harry and Ron, was that everyone else had to eat what the patients were eating or go hungry. Harry and Ron perked up considerably, when hearing Mr. Weasley complain about another serving dish containing nothing else but carrots or brussel sprouts, and seeing Remus' obvious hatred of everything that could possibly be considered soup, their reactions made the boy's diet go over a little easier.

Mrs. Weasley simply didn't have the time to make a different menu for the rest, three times a day. She was very thankful that Professor Dumbledore had sent Dobby to help her with the house keeping, because without him, the cleaning simply wouldn't get done. She shuddered at the thought of a dirty shower.

The only physical activities they were allowed to perform were eating, lying down, sitting, sleeping, walking around (in moderation) and writing. Mrs. Weasley, in 'mother hen mode', feared that any physical exertion might hinder or totally prevent their recovery. If it had been her decision to make, the boys would have remained in bed until it was time to get back onto the Hogwarts' Express. It was only because of Mr. Weasley and Remus' intervention that they were even allowed up.

In practice, this meant that they could only do the inventarisation of the library, even if they had wanted and had been able to do something else. After a few days of utter boredom, even Ron, 'Mister I'm Afraid of Dust Bunnies' as Hermione had so aptly put it, had joined the 'party', glad to have something to do besides counting the dots on the ceiling of his 'new' room.

When they came back from St. Mungo's, Harry would not sleep in their old room anymore, it no longer felt safe to him. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley were very understanding and had been very willing to arrange other rooms for the two of them before they returned. Harry had chosen to sleep in his Godfathers' room from then on, in his mind, no other bedroom would do.

From the moment he had walked in through the front door, the most important thing to him was to wake up Sirius; he had missed his little pet dearly. The last three nights at the Wizard hospital had been riddled with nightmares about his Godfathers' death, about himself sleeping forever, slowly dying and about the terror of Voldemort rising to power in his absence.

He had sworn to himself that he would never ever, go anywhere without his bond-mate again. For his own good as well as for Sirius'. When he had opened the stasis box for the second time, Sirius looked even tinier then before he got him, three weeks ago. It had looked as though he was physically withering away without his bond-mate.

Harry had taken Sirius up to his new room immediately, he thought taking a nap together might restore some of his pet's strength as well as his own. Sirius had climbed up to his shoulder and clung to him from the moment he had opened the stasis box and hadn't let go for two days, Harry couldn't even change his clothes.

From then on, Harry and Sirius were inseparable. Harry would bring him everywhere. He even took his pet into the shower with him. Mr. Weasley expected this protective and possessive behaviour to stop when they both felt more secure about their bond. He remembered a similar situation with Fred and George when they were little.

You couldn't keep them apart if you had them tied to elephants. When Fred got really sick (dragonpocks) and had to go to St. Mungo's. The disease was too contagious to have him treated at home, with the babies (Ron had recently turned one, and Ginny had just been born) and everything. George had been in tears for a whole week, until his twin returned. They had been attached at the hip for a month after that. Molly even had to transfigure one of their beds, because even at night, they would not leave each other's side. They were still very close, physically and mentally; but soon, they were able to do things alone again.

After all, he considered, there was no harm in bringing Sirius along everywhere. It had been going on for a week now and the two of them really didn't show any signs of letting go. On the contrary, in comparison to his twins, Mr. Weasley considered it a plus that Harry's pet was so small. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have to transfigure his bed, like she had had to do for the twins.

During their sleeping spell, Hermione had started the work on the library to keep busy and to keep her distracted from the fact that her best friends might never wake up again. By the time Harry and Ron came home again, she had already catalogued a quarter of the library's content. She had found five extremely rare books in the Black Family collection and had set them aside; she thought they might be a nice read later.

Their O.W.L results and sixth year book lists had arrived while the boys were sleeping at St. Mungo's. Harry had received ten Owl's - with one extra credited one for Defense Against the Dark Arts - Hermione an astounding twelve and Ron had received nine.

The letters were promptly opened once all students were safely back at Grimmauld Place. Hermione practically throttled the boy's when she pushed their unopened letters in their faces, as they stepped into the kitchen. She had been dying to open her's for days now, but it hadn't felt right, with Harry and Ron at St. Mungo's. All three of them had been accepted into the N.E.W.T Potions class taught by Professor Snape. Harry had even wondered at one point, a few days later when he was re-reading his book list, if Snape had had a lobotomy before letting him in. He would have to remember to thank Professor McGonagall later; she really had come through for him.

Mrs. Weasley had copied their results onto a piece of parchment and put it up on the notice board in the kitchen, she was so proud of all of them. Harry considered the notice board the Wizard equivalent of a fridge, with drawing pins instead of magnets. He would grin as he walked past. For the first time in his life, someone was pleased with him, and interested in his school results.

HarryHermioneRon

AstrologyAcceptable Acceptable Acceptable

Ancient Runes / Outstanding /

HerbologyOutstandingOutstanding E

Charms

PracticalOutstandingOutstanding Outstanding

TheoryOutstandingOutstanding E

Transfiguration

PracticalOutstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Theory E Outstanding Acceptable

D.A.D.A.

PracticalOutstanding Outstanding Outstanding

TheoryOutstandingOutstanding Outstanding

Potions

PracticalEOutstanding E

TheoryOutstandingOutstanding E

History of Magic

PoorOutstanding Acceptable

Care of Magical Creatures

OutstandingOutstanding Outstanding

Divination

Acceptable/ Poor

Arithmancy

/Outstanding /

The next day, Mrs. Weasley went to Diagon Alley and bought their school supplies for all of them. Harry and Ron had been confined to the inside of the house and were strictly forbidden to do that themselves. She didn't want anything else to happen to them in the week they had left, before school started up again.

The only one allowed out of the house was Hermione and only under adult supervision, usually Remus got stuck with the job. She had discovered during the time she was alone at Grimmauld Place, that as fun as Diagon Alley might be, without your friends, it really wasn't all that enjoyable.

While he was sleeping at St. Mungo's Harry had also received a letter from the Notary setting up a few possible times for Harry to meet his estate manager. As soon as he had awakened he had sent Hedwig with an answer to make a definite appointment.

"Harry, wake up," Hermione said, while rocking Harry back and forth in his bed. " I really want to finish that library before we go back to Hogwarts and I cannot do it alone. And that estate manager of yours is due here in a few hours, you really should get dressed."

Harry grumbled something still half-asleep, "Go away, nutty Elf! I don't want eggs for breakfast."

"Harry, come on! Dobby isn't in here, you are still dreaming. Snap out of it!" she tried again before giving up.

"Fine, see if I care," she grumbled to herself as she walked down the flights of stairs to the bottom. "I'm getting breakfast. At this rate, he will be very lucky to find anything left on the breakfast table."

When she walked into the kitchen Ron, Ginny and their parents were already there. She had seen Remus, who was going to feed Buckbeak, while she was walking down the stairs. Everyone accounted for, except for an ever-sleeping Harry. To Hermione, it sometimes seemed like he was catching up on years and years of backlogged sleep.

"Good morning, Hermione," said Ginny, who was finishing her soft-boiled egg with great care.

"G'morning, 'mione," Ron said with his mouth stuffed with bacon.

He had been overjoyed when he walked into the kitchen this morning. No more need to eat soup every three hours. The diet the Healers had prescribed finally allowed meat to appear on his plate again.

"Good morning everyone," she said for everyone to hear and sat down next to Ginny.

When everyone else was done eating breakfast and only Ginny and Hermione were left at the table, Harry finally walked in, Sirius on his shoulder as always. A smile was plastered across his face as if the day could not possibly get any better then right now.

"Good morning everyone," he said in a singsong voice, clearly wanting to share his joy on such a terrific morning with everyone.

He walked over to the table and gave Hermione, Ginny and lastly Mrs. Weasley a big wet kiss on their cheek. Poor Ginny, she immediately turned a very nice shade of red right across her face, from the tip of her nose right back to her earlobes. Mrs. Weasley smiled lovingly and turned back to the dishes she had been washing.

"Harry, what the hell is going on? Did Voldemort die or something, that you are so obnoxiously happy today?" Hermione blurted out, a little bit shocked by his behaviour.

"Nope, just a beautiful day and I felt like celebrating. You didn't mind, did you?" Harry quipped.

"Well, euhm ...no, but don't do it again ok," she retorted, still puzzled because of his out of character behaviour.

Harry had had a beautiful dream, just before waking up that morning. He had seen and talked with his parents, telling them everything about his life and his friends. Even Sirius had been in the dream, still sitting on his shoulder. Harry had finally been able to let go of the blame he had felt for the death of his parents, his Godfather's and Cedric. It had been an extremely vivid dream and when he awoke, he felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders, at least for today.

He sat down to have some breakfast and grabbed some of the leftover pieces of toast, practically the only edible things left on the table.

"Serves you right, silly goose, coming down to breakfast this late," Hermione lectured, suppressing a chuckle, "'Specially now that you are recovering, you really should eat properly."

"No worries, wasn't really that hungry anyway, the toast and a bit of jam will do. Besides, I would gladly give up breakfast any day for a dream like the one I had last night," he replied.

"Well if you're done with breakfast come to the library. We still have three shelves to finish and we leave for Hogwarts in four days; we need to hurry."

"Calm down Hermione, you could easily finish cataloguing those shelves by yourself, and you know it. There is no need to rush at all."

Harry returned to eating his toast. When he finished his fifth and last slice, he set his plate aside. Next, he summoned the crickets and little pieces of fruit he had prepared for Sirius. Sirius walked down his arm to receive the little morsels of food, happily nibbling at them to his little hearts content. Harry had also summoned Sirius' drinking bowl and was currently filling it with sugar water. For a little animal, Sirius needed a lot of sugar in his diet because he burned quite a lot of energy during the day.

When everyone had been fed and watered, Mrs. Weasley chased the last two occupants of the kitchen table out of the room and started cleaning. Harry walked down the hall to the library and found Hermione, reading a huge book, totally engrossedin its contents. She was sitting in one of the plushy armchairs that had been scattered across the library, and Ron was contentedly reading the new edition of Quidditch Weekly, sprawled across the window seat.

"Hi, you guys, where do we start?" he said loudly, waking his friends out of their trance.

Hermione, who looked slightly annoyed that he had interrupted her reading, stood up from her chair, walked to the right side of the room and pointed at a large book with a black spine and silver embossed lettering on it. "Yesterday, we finished just before this one."

"All righty then." Harry put on the Dragon hide gloves and joined Hermione at the shelves. He reached for the book with both hands.

He laid it down on the table in the middle of the library. Hermione got something that looked like a magnifying glass out of her pocket and scanned the book for any latent or active spells. In reality, it was called a 'Clariffion glass'; it was a magical clarifying lens. She had bought it at _Flourish and Blotts_, on a recommendation from one of the clerks, when she had told him why she needed "_How to Deal With Smart Books and Their Defenses_". It highlighted any possible defence mechanisms or spells that were present and named them. Once that was done, you would look that up in the book and perform the necessary counter spells.

Without it, they would have been totally helpless, all three of them had admitted as much. They had encountered biting books, much like Hagrid's third year handbook for Care of Magical Creatures. Screaming books, that only shut up if you sat on them with three people at once. Books with needles coming out of the spine with poison on it (exactly like the ones Hermione had read about, they were really glad they had thought of those Dragon hide gloves) and even the odd one that would start to burn or smoke, when you opened it.

The Clariffion glass also identified masking spells. Books that really weren't books or books that were trying to pretend they were other, more important books and books that were trying to hide their real value and identity. Last but not least, the Clariffion glass also identified the less important repairing spells, if they hadn't been cast too long ago. On the bottom shelf, Hermione had even discovered a copy of 'The Invisible Invisibility' book, because of it. Leave it up to her to check every shelf thoroughly with a magical lens to see if they hadn't forgotten even the tiniest of pamphlets.

The three of them really enjoyed themselves in the library, something Harry and Ron wouldn't admit to a single soul, but it was true. The rush when they discovered a new dangerous book, a rare one or even a real funny one, was starting to grow on the boys. They even realised why Hermione liked books so much.

By the time lunch came around, they had finished two whole shelves, and with only one shelf left to finish, they each chose a book to read and decided to leave the rest of the cataloguing for the next morning. After which they followed Ginny, who had been sent to call them into the kitchen, to lunch.

After lunch, Harry's estate manager kept him busy, talking about shares and stock, real estate and property values. Harry found the man, Edward Dawlish to be a very nice man who obviously knew his job well. Even though the numbers and amounts were still swimming through his head for hours after the man had already left.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Harry, who had taken his book _'The Best Way to Become an Animagus'_ up to his room, to read in peace and clear his head a little, got up to go the bathroom. As he walked down the flight of stairs to the floor below, he stopped. Harry thought he had seen a rat, scurrying across the landing into one of the vacant bedrooms on that floor. He silently crept down the remaining steps and peeked through the open door. There it was again, that last inch of tail, disappearing underneath the freestanding wardrobe.

Harry got down on hands and knees and looked underneath it and sure enough, there it was, back turned towards the door, and luckily to Harry. Harry reached into his robes for his wand he didn't go anywhere without it anymore. At Grimmauld Place, he could use it without any heat from the Ministry, because of all of the blocks Professor Dumbledore had installed, after he had become owner of the property.

He sent a 'Petrificus Totalus' spell at the rat, it hit it square in the back, and the animal froze and next slowly toppled over on its right side. Harry walked over to the wardrobe and crouched down to reach underneath. He pulled out a rat, with barely any fur left and a silver paw.

"Peter!" Harry shouted, he was so surprised, "I need to tell someone! Now!" Harry's thoughts were running all over the place. 'Now Sirius' name can be cleared. Maybe he knows what Voldemort is planning for me next. What was he doing here? How did he get into this house, isn't it supposed to be under the Fidelius spell still?'

Soon however, Harry's pragmatic side kicked in. He first needed to make sure that that thing, that rat didn't disappear down a rat hole again.

Harry forgot all about his intended trip to the bathroom and walked back up the stairs. The first thought that had come into his mind, when he had considered things to restrain the Animagus, had been the stasis box, which he kept up in his room. It would be perfect to hold Peter and his Godfather would have applauded the idea, Harry was sure.

Once Harry had stuffed Peter safely inside the stasis box he ran downstairs, almost fell down once, because in his hurry, he missed a step. Stormed into the kitchen and looked around for the Floo Powder. Professor Dumbledore needed to know right away. If only he could find that Floo Powder. Harry was becoming desperate, he couldn't find it anywhere. Luckily, Mrs. Weasley walked into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Weasley, where is the Floo powder stored?" he asked with a strained voice, in his determination to tell Professor Dumbledore what had happened right away. Harry totally overlooked that he had an adult five feet away; someone he could tell everything to.

"In the pantry dear, in the terracotta pot," she replied surprised, as she watched Harry practically fly into the pantry and return with the pot seconds later, all the while wondering to herself what could be so important, that Harry had to Floo someone outside Grimmauld Place.

Harry threw some into the fireplace and called out, "Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts," and stuck his head into the flames as they turned green.

"Mr. Potter, what are you doing here?" asked Professor Dumbledore, when out of the blue, Harry's face appeared in the fireplace, in his office.

"Professor, I caught Peter, snooping about the house, at Grimmauld Place! I froze him and put him into my stasis box. I really think you should come here at once," Harry rattled off before finally taking a deep breath.

"Peter? As in 'Peter Pettigrew'? Are you sure Harry?"

Harry nodded, "Please come quick Professor Dumbledore. I think Remus will be home for dinner soon, he should know too. Please, I don't want to be responsible for this rat any longer. It might be able to escape the box, I don't know."

"Very well, step away from the fireplace my boy, I will join you at Grimmauld Place immediately."

Harry pulled his head out of the fire and stepped away from the fireplace, waiting for his Headmaster to come through. No more than a minute later, the flames became green again, and a large tornado appeared, ushering Albus Dumbledore into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place.

Professor Dumbledore greeted Mrs. Weasley and said, "One more for dinner tonight, if it is all right with you Molly?

Mrs. Weasley looked positively baffled by the Headmasters sudden appearance but started on dinner anyway.

"Show me the box you put Peter in, Harry. I'll put an Unbreakable charm on it, making it impossible to break out of there. However, I don't believe he will be able to anyway. You petrified him before putting him in there. Besides, a stasis box does just what the name implies, it keeps the objects placed inside in the same state until they are taken out again.

"I believe, when we retrieve Peter from your box later tonight, he will still be frozen stiff."

Harry retrieved the box from where he had put it on the kitchen table during his fire call, and set it down in front of the Professor. Dumbledore muttered a few words and waved his wand over the box in a circular motion. The box glowed white for a second or two and then returned to its normal appearance.

"There, all done. All that is missing now is a big red bow," Professor Dumbledore said smiling. He turned around and asked Mrs. Weasley, "What is for dinner today my dearest Molly?"

Later that night, Professor Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Harry and Arthur Weasley were all sitting in the living room. Professor Dumbledore had called them there for the opening of Harry's box. He hadn't called a complete meeting of the Order because he wanted to interrogate Wormtail in a smaller circle first. Moody and Tonks had placed a few spells on the living room to prevent Apparition and make the Animagus transformation impossible.

"Harry, we are ready for him, open the box," asked Professor Dumbledore. "Remember, I can only let you stay, and observe if you stay back and thus out of harms way."

"Ok Professor." Harry replied solemnly, he turned to face the box and said in a clear voice, "Harry James Potter."

The stasis box opened and inside, everyone in the room, could see a petrified white rat with a silver paw. Moody stepped forward, removed the Animagus from the box, and placed him in the centre of the circle created by the adults. Next, Tonks and Remus exchanged a look and started muttering a spell together. After saying the last word of the spell, there was no longer a rat lying on the carpet, but a little bolding man, holding on to a huge old book.

Mad-Eye Moody immediately summoned to book to him, and put it away on a table behind him, out of Pettigrew's reach.

"Harry, if you would be so kind as to wake him now, son," Mr. Weasley said, and added in a whisper, "because I don't think we can. That 'Petrificus Totalus' spell you cast on him this afternoon, appears to be an exceptionally strong spell."

Harry lifted the 'Petrificus Totalus' by casting 'Finite Incantatem' over the body and stepped back behind the adults.

Moody and Tonks kept their wands trained on the body, which now started to move.

"Good evening, Peter. How are you this evening?" said Professor Dumbledore, who had summoned his favourite wingback armchair out of thin air and sat down.

"Pro-pro-fessor? Professor D-d-d-umbledore? I-is that really you?" the little man stuttered. Then Harry stepped into his line of vision, out from behind Professor Dumbledore's back. "Harry? Oh no," he cried, before totally breaking down and crying into the carpet.

"Yes, Peter! Harry, your captor. Now if you would be so kind as to explain how you got into this house and don't seem at all surprised to be captured," Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Lily, I'm sorry, I never meant to do any of it. Lily! Lily, my love, forgive me, pleaaaase," sobbed the cringing man.

"Shut up, you rodent," Remus shouted, enraged by the words spoken by that wretched being on the floor. "You don't deserve to even speak her name. Not to mention that you claim that you loved her, when it was in fact your words, your betrayal that got her killed."

Remus ran out of the room, furious, before he went beyond shouting and would actually physically attack that pest. He didn't want anything more to do with that little rodent. If he had eaten him two years ago in The Forbidden Forest, none of this would be happening. He ran up the stairs and sat down in Buckbeak's room, trying to regain his peace of mind.

"Never mind Remus, Peter. Get on with it and stop crying immediately." Dumbledore ordered. "Don't make me repeat myself, do you hear!" was added in a clearly threatening tone.

_Chapter Seven, Cauldron Bubble, Double Double, Toil and Trouble._


	7. Chapter Seven, Cauldron Bubble, Double D...

_Chapter Seven, Cauldron Bubble, Double Double, Toil and Trouble.  
_

Dumbledore had remained a guest of the Croft's for two days, absorbing all their accomplishments and discoveries of the last fifteen years. When he finally left, he carried a Portkey and a list of ingredients with him. The Portkey would take Professor Snape back to the Croft compound, to assist Max in working out the last kinks in his Potion. Snape would also bring along an ample stock of the Potions ingredients to make a large batch before returning to Hogwarts.

Max and Alex weren't really thrilled that they would have to put up with the ominous Potions Master, that was Severus Snape for one week, at least until school started up again, and were dreading his arrival. Alex had set the Portkey to go off at eight o'clock that night.

"Hun, one thing is for sure, he won't be able to screw up dinner," Max said with a half smile. They were sitting at the dinner table, with their plates empty before them.

"I know, but I don't know how I'm going to deal with that prat. You always tell me such horrid stories about his behaviour, when you come back from your Potions conventions. I was almost beginning to think the man wasn't human. And now I have to live with him for a week," she said with a sigh. "I'm almost tempted to go live in the winter apartments for the week, just to stay out of his way."

She got up, petted Orion on the head and walked out into the meadow. The sun would be setting soon...

Severus Snape arrived with his travelling bag in one hand; a bag of ingredients in the other and a school owl perched on his right shoulder. He found himself in the middle of a meadow, in god knows where exactly, at exactly eight o'clock. He thought to himself, 'Who the hell am I supposed to help that would choose to live way out here in nowheres-ville'.

He internally cursed Dumbledore for giving him his marching orders without specifying what he would be doing it, with who he would be doing it, or where he would be doing it for a week. He had also felt particularly embarrassed when he saw the Portkey he had to use. It was a silly old baseball cap (Alex's idea of a joke), because he had to wear it for the Portkey to be activated.

He heard a male voice behind him. "Good evening, Professor Snape. I am Maximilian Croft and this is my wife Alexandra. You will be staying with us for the next week, I believe."

"Yes, indeed. Those were my orders," Snape answered the man, thinking to himself; 'I hope Albus knows what he's doing'.

'Maximilian Croft', he thought, 'didn't he disappear with his wife fifteen years ago? The story had been all over the Daily Prophet for weeks, at the time. It had been so strange, Voldemort had been vanquished, or so everyone believed. Next, out of the blue, a couple disappeared into thin air. Even their employer, the Ministry, didn't know where they had gone off to.'

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost?" asked Alex, when she saw the distant look in the grim man's eyes.

"Nothing really, except perhaps, that you've been considered dead for fifteen years," he replied with his trademark sneer, trying to hide his apprehension.

"Well not exactly, we've lived shut off from the Wizarding world for fifteen years, but the rumours of our death were greatly exaggerated as you yourself can clearly see," Max stated. "Now if you'll follow us inside, it gets cold out here after dark." He pointed at the sun that was just setting the west.

Snape followed the couple into the building. He looked around attentively. Once inside, Alex disappeared down the corridor, taking the owl with her, and Max gave Snape the grand tour.

He followed Max into the corridor from the kitchen and learned that the Potions lab was the first door to his left. The pantry was the first door to his right. The room where the couple kept their Potions store was the second door to the left. The living room, that connected straight through to the three guestrooms; all of which had their own on-suite bathroom, was the second door to his right. One of the guestrooms would be his for the rest of the week. The couple's bedroom was the last door on the right, the main bathroom was the third door to the left, and the library was the last door on the left.

Max then left him alone, to settle in. Snape put his bags down in the living room and walked down the corridor to the library. Alex was seated at a desk in the far corner, but what caught his eye was the animal that was sitting beside her.

"A-a Demiguise!" he shouted.

"Indeed," replied a disgruntled Alex. She didn't appreciate being disturbed by this apparently inconsiderate man. "This is 'Orion', our resident Demiguise and pet. Now do you mind, I'm working."

"But, but, Demiguises aren't pets, they never have been! What did you do to it, to make it so docile?" he uttered incredulously.

"We were nice to it. Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish my work for this evening."

"Yes, of course. I will let you work in peace. I just wanted to inspect your library up close," Snape said, suppressing the excitement he felt. He wondered what had really happened, that a Demiguise was freely and happily wandering around this house.

"Go ahead, but in silence. If you please," Alex said still unnerved by the Potions Masters' presence. "You might find the volumes on the reading table next to the stairs the most interesting," she added at the last minute.

'Now why did I do that?' Alex wondered to herself, when she saw the tall greasy hared man walk over there. 'Why did I, so easily, hand over all of our work over the last fifteen years, to that complete and utter stranger?'

She shrugged her shoulders and returned to her notebook. Nothing could be done about it now; the cat was out of the bag.

The rest of the evening passed calmly. By ten o'clock, everyone had turned in. Severus Snape in one of the guestrooms next to the living room, which had been hastily dressed up to be a little more comfortable and Max, Alex and Orion in the master bedroom.

When Orion woke up that morning, very early, he went exploring. He walked to the door, opened it and left the master bedroom. There was a new human in the house and he wanted to get to know him. This might have been a bit naïve of him; after all, the last 'new' person he had met, Dumbledore, had been a wonderful man.

He reached the living room, walked through and opened the door to the now occupied first guestroom. He trotted over to the bed, which Max had transfigured from a chaise lounge and jumped up on the covers. He crept over to the sleeping man and hovered over him, their noses only millimetres apart.

A few moments later, Severus Snape woke up; a strange smell had coaxed him to wake from his deep slumber. When he opened his eyes, he saw two multicoloured eyes looking back at him, where the ceiling should have been. He would not have admitted it to a single soul, but at that moment, he was scared out of his wits and pushed whatever was on his chest off with a panicked shove.

Orion landed a few feet away from the odd man and turned a silvery grey. The older man hadn't reacted like this; he had smiled and patted him on the head. No, Orion decided that he did not like this human and haughtily strutted out of the room. He went to get a banana in the kitchen and was growling a bit at his undeserved harsh treatment.

Snape watched the disgruntled animal walk out of his room. He was amazed at its demeanour and at its colour. He distinctly remembered that yesterday its pelt had been a light beige colour, not this rowdy, dark patched green. The animal truly had him fazed. Apparently, the creature had wanted to say hi; unfortunately, the manner of greeting was quite unexpected, and Severus did not like unexpected things.

At breakfast, Snape commented on his wake up call that morning. Upon hearing of it, Alex burst into a fit of laughter. She could almost picture the situation; Severus Snape waking up with a Demiguise on his chest. She knew from Albus that Orion had come to say hello on his first morning with them as well. According to her however, the ancient Professor had reacted to his wake up call in a much more acceptable and grown-up fashion.

After that one occasion, having a guest around the house really hadn't generated much reason for joy. Except for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Alex barely saw the men, which had its up and its downsides. One of the downside being that she didn't see or speak to her husband nearly as much as she wanted to.

Furthermore, she still saw too much of her guest to be comfortable, every occasion that required them to share a room was qualified by complete and utter silence. As if Mr. Snape did not want anyone to disturb the intricate workings, of what he considered his superior mind. This behaviour certainly did no good to further a good relationship with the Crofts. Alex who had already received a rather bleak picture of the man's social skills, got affirmation of her husband's detailed descriptions.

Two days into his stay, Snape and Max had already figured out what triggered the black colour and rectified the problem. They were now brewing the new potion, which had been named the 'Crenellation Coal' Potion, because of its protective properties and the one nasty side effect (even though it had been rectified) it had once presented.

They had tested the potion, that now left the rats as white as the day they were born, several times. Snape however was not convinced that the potion would work equally well on humans. He convinced Max to hold any celebration, until he returned to Hogwarts, where he would create a human Simulacrum and test the potion to confirm its effects.

Alex was pleased when breakfast was done, and her husband and Professor Snape locked themselves in the Potions lab for the day. She cleaned up the kitchen, washed the dishes and walked out the kitchen door. Orion followed her into the meadow; where she watched him frolicking around, jumping, sniffing and climbing the occasional tree. She liked having Orion around, couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he would ever leave. She loved how he always made her smile.

A few days later, Alex was relaxing in the meadow before she had to prepare for another nice but quiet dinner, when she watched Severus Snape burst out of the kitchen door and Apparate to some unknown destination. A few minutes later, Max walked out the door as well, with a puzzled look on his face.

ïïïï

Severus had gotten out of the Crofts house as fast as he could. He didn't know if they had anti-Apparition wards in place and didn't want to take the chance; because if there was one thing his Lord hated, it was tardiness. When he Apparated at the spot of the meeting, he was one of the first to arrive on the scene. He quietly waited, trying not to attract unwanted attention while watching the circle become more complete with each passing heartbeat.

After a few minutes, the circle was practically complete, not counting those people that were captured last summer and in Azkaban, leaving a conspicuous gap where Wormtail should have been...

"Where is Wormtail?" bellowed an incredibly angry Voldemort to his Death Eater congregation, once he was satisfied that all members who were able, were in attendance. "Nott, does anyone at the Ministry have an idea where that little rat is?"

Voldemort looked around at the circle of Death Eaters, the attack at the Ministry had cost him dearly. It had been a strong blow to the inner core. The empty spots, where their co-conspirators were supposed to stand, were blatantly obvious. None of the useless fools he had left dared to utter a single word unless spoken to.

"No my Lord, Fudge has been looking for him for months now, Sir, I am sure that he would know if they had. Which means, that he has not been apprehended by the Aurors," the cowering man replied.

"My lord, the wife of Lucius Malfoy sent us a notice, that a considerable amount of money has been placed upon the head of Wormtail at the reading of Sirius Black's will, for his capture, Sir," said Bellatrix Lestrange. "Perhaps a bounty hunter has stumbled across him and captured him?"

"Idiot, that stupid blithering idiot, isn't he even capable of evading capture. I should have fed him to Nagini years ago, that little snivelling rat." Voldemort said, thinking 'I hope that little rat has the good sense to kill himself before divulging any of my secrets, or I will have to send him one of my presents.'

"My loyal followers, this year it is imperative that we capture Harry Potter and end his miserable life. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long already. When we failed yet again, to attain the prophecy earlier this year, I started to doubt all of your abilities. We lost many high ranking followers," Voldemort continued, his voice bellowing, " This behaviour is unacceptable! The first order of business this year is to free our people from Azkaban, Goyle see what you can find out about that. Soon, or else... . I also wish to consolidate our alliance with the Dementors, they are our natural allies after all.

"Leave me now, all of you! Except you Severus and you Bellatrix, I need to talk to you both in private."

The Death Eaters Apparated away one by one, until only two were left standing before the Dark Lord. Severus Snape tentatively approached and bowed before his master. Bellatrix inched away, upon seeing the little hand movement of her Master that meant he intended to have a private conversation with Snape, until safely out of hearing range of whatever her master had to say to the Potions master.

"Severus, I need a series of lethal Poisons and I want you to find out whether Wormtail might be hiding at Hogwarts. He has been known to do that before. On the table near the door is the list of Poisons I need. Do not disappoint me, I will send for you when I require them. Do not dawdle in brewing them, for it might be soon."

Snape got up, walked to the table, and put the list in his pocket. He bowed farewell to his master and Apparated to Hogsmeade, relieved that he did not have to endure punishment for once, at a Death Eater meeting.

Once Snape left, Bellatrix approached her Lord and bowed at his feet, kissing the hem of his now discoloured robes.

"What can I possibly mean to you, my Lord, what assignment have you reserved for me?" she tentatively asked.

"I must be sure of Wormtails' fate. He knows too much to be captured and if he is captured, knows too much to remain alive. My assignment is that you find out by all means possible where he is located. If he is hiding from me, kill him. If he has been apprehended, kill him. If he talked to anyone, torture him and then dispose of him. Do not disappoint me, Bellatrix. Not like last time!" Voldemort barked. "Or you will live to regret it..."

When Bellatrix looked up to her master, all she saw was the end of a wand trained at her. She didn't even have time to prepare for the gruelling pain her body was about to receive, when she heard the word 'Crucio' being uttered.

ïïïï

All hell broke loose at Grimmauld Place, when suddenly, about an hour after supper time, Harry collapsed in the living room, clutching his hands against his scar, rocking back and forth. Everybody that was in the house at the time, flocked into the living room to support and comfort him. He was screaming in agony. Usually his connection to Voldemort was the clearest when he slept, but now that Sirius guarded the portals to his dreams, that access route had been cut off.

Now, Harry was directly exposed to every sordid detail floating around in Voldemort's diseased mind, a torture to anyone with the slightest hint of morality. He could clearly feel all the hatred and loathing Voldemort felt, as he cast one of the Unforgivables at one of his followers.

When Snape arrived at Hogwarts, out of breath and totally discouraged, he immediately made his way to the Headmaster's office to report...

...Only to find him talking to the head of Remus Lupin in the fireplace. Remus had floo-ed Dumbledore only seconds after Harry had started seizing. When Severus walked in, Professor Dumbledore was getting ready to floo to Grimmauld Place himself, for the second time that week.

"Professor Dumbledore, there has been another meeting..." Severus reported.

"Yes, Severus, I know. I realised as much, when Remus told me that Harry started seizing a few minutes ago. Could you tell me who was still there after you left?"

"Only Bellatrix, but she is his favourite, he wouldn't hurt her..." the Potions master replied, astounded.

"Well apparently, Voldemort is very disappointed in her, because Harry was feeling an enormous amount of hatred coming through the link. Directed at only one person, beside himself, at the moment. Severus let's continue our conversation at Grimmauld Place, I want to know exactly what Harry saw, the moment he is able to tell me."

"Yes Sir, I will be right behind you."

ïïïï

Alex had started to write an extremely important letter. She had had dinner together with her husband earlier that night; both relieved and concerned at Snape's sudden disappearance. Now even more so, that four hours had passed, and he had still not returned.

She had decided to write only to her superior, rather then writing an open letter to her entire department, based on Dumbledore's guidance. He had knowledge of spies inside the Ministry who used the information they gathered for further Voldemort's cause.

This, with the help and guidance of Professor Dumbledore because he knew that the Ministry was riddled with spies, who only used the information they gathered to further Voldemort's cause. What was more important to Alex was that Dumbledore trusted Mr. Ogilvie, Alex's former mentor and superior.

By any means possible, they needed to prevent knowledge of the potion getting in the wrong hands, because it would eliminate the advantage of this defence against the killing curse, and diminish the element of surprise surrounding it.

_Dearest mentor,_

_Yes, you are not imagining things; Max and myself are still alive and kicking. The news of our demise was gravely exaggerated. When we disappeared fifteen years ago, that was for a very specific reason. We wanted to fall off everyone's radar, so no one would come looking for us while we fulfilled the contract offered to us by the Ministry - a task we completed only a few weeks ago. _

_The reason, I am writing this letter to you and not to the Minister himself, is that we heard from Professor Dumbledore. (Don't be angry, he is the only person we were sure of who could be trusted_), _after fifteen years of staying out of the magical community.) We heard from him, that the Ministry is not a place that can keep secrets for very long. _

_Moreover, the discoveries that we have made surely warrant keeping them a secret, because of the major impact they will have on the whole community. _

_I will not dare (describe them in a medium_ _that is so vulnerable to interception. Instead, I inform you that I have accepted the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. My husband, Max will assist Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall with their respective classes. We cordially invite you to come stay with us there, and learn of these developments from our own lips, in a few weeks._

_Honourably,_

_Alexandra and Maximilian Croft. _

She called the owl that had been with them for four days now to her. Alex let it settle on her shoulder and walked out of the library, down the corridor, through the kitchen and out into the meadow. She then tied the letter addressed to Mr. Morris Ogilvie, Dangle lane 12, Mirth town, Kent to its leg and watched it fly off.

Orion, who had followed her out, watched the owl leave with a little regret. Unlike the rats, he had never wanted to hurt or eat the magnificent animal. He felt its significance to his humans, its purpose, to deliver the letter that would release his humans from this self-imposed exile. The regret he felt came from realising, that he wouldn't live in this forest, in this place for very much longer, now that the letter had been sent.

Alex patted Orion on the head, turned around and walked back into the house, a slight spring in her step. Snape still hadn't returned...

_Chapter Eight, The Hogwart's Express_


	8. Chapter Eight, The Hogwarts Express

Chapter Eight: The Hogwarts Express.  
  
Dawn broke on the first of September and Grimmauld Place was practically bursting at the seams. Mrs. Weasley had gathered everyone she knew and trusted there to escort Harry and the others to platform 9 3/4. It was eight in the morning and the students hadn't even woken up, Mrs Weasley and Mad Eye Moody had already given the Order members present their marching orders and sent them off to take their positions, which were scattered across the city.  
  
She had started obsessing about getting Harry safely on the train, ever since his seizure a few days ago. The suggestion that had swam around in her mind after he had returned from St. Mungo's, that as long as she could get him onto that train safely no harm would come to him (by the grace of god) for another year. It had come back in full force and not even Mr. Weasley and Remus could deter her from achieving her goal.  
  
The last days at Grimmauld Place had been incredibly tedious for Harry, though there was still a lot that needed to be done. He wasn't allowed to do anything on his own anymore, the adults feared that another seizure might come along and that he would injure himself. Remus would even follow him into the bathroom and Mrs. Weasley cut his pepper steak for him, refusing to let him come within two feet of a knife.  
  
At nine thirty, the students and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were hustling and bustling; trying to get their trunks packed and closed (Ginny), looking under beds for that illusive stray sock (Ron), folding robes to make them fit into an overflowing trunk (Hermione) and shouting through the stairwell that they were going to miss the train (Mrs. Weasley). Everyone was busy except for Mr. Weasley and Harry. They were sitting quietly in the kitchen talking about another year at Hogwarts, while Harry was feeding Sirius.  
  
Harry, rather liked that he didn't have to worry about getting his trunk ready for a change. Mrs. Weasley had seen to that yesterday, spells had been flying all over the house gathering his things and packing them neatly into his trunk. 'Finally an upside to being coddled like a two year old,' he thought.  
  
Half an hour later all the trunks were neatly lined up in the hallway, Hedwig, Pig and Crookshanks in their cages and baskets on top. Sirius on Harry's shoulder (he still wouldn't budge an inch), patiently awaiting the arrival of the Ministry cars that were taking them to King's Cross. They were going in a long caravan this time. Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks were riding with Harry in the front car, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt with Hermione and Ginny in the second, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley together with Ron in the rear car.  
  
While they were driving, Harry passed the time by looking out the window. He was regularly surprised by the appearance of familiar faces, when the Ministry cars would cross intersections or overtook other vehicles. It wasI It was as if Wizards had inundated all of London. He had recognised Mrs. Figg , posing as an elderly woman walking her dog when their convoy had stopped for a red light. A few minutes later the cars passed by Mundungus Fletcher, as they drove by a car on the side of the road, he was imitating a disappointed driver swearing at his apparently broke down vehicle. Harry also saw Bill Weasley, walking out of a clothing store for bikers, however Harry considered that that might just have been a coincidence.  
  
"Tonks?" Harry asked curiously. "Just how many people are making sure we get to King's Cross in one piece besides you, Mad-Eye, Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?"  
  
"Oh, about a hundred..." Tonks replied casually.  
  
"A HUNDRED?" Harry shouted in surprise. "A hundred, are you all nuts?"  
  
"Yes, a hundred. It was Mad-Eye's idea, Molly insisted on it, and Dumbledore liked it very much. So just sit back and relax. We'll be at King's Cross soon."  
  
"Constant vigilance," was shouted out loud by Alastor. Who obviously thought that was the most important thing to say as he didn't say another word for the rest of the drive.  
  
At King's Cross, four porters popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, when the Ministry cars pulled up to the curb. In no time, their trunks and pets were loaded on their trolleys, and the students and their escorts followed the porters through the gate between tracks nine and ten.  
  
Being one of the first students to arrive for the Hogwarts Express actually paid off, because it didn't take them long to find an empty compartment, store their trunks and start to say goodbye to their family and friends to start a new school year. they wouldn't see each other again until Christmas came around.  
  
Students continued to pour onto the platform through the gate, from seventh years, and the transfer students that had assigned seats in the back of the train down to the ickle newbie firsties that didn't know anyone. Every single one was ushered onto the train and at exactly eleven o'clock the whistle blew and the Hogwarts Express was off.  
  
((((  
  
Alex and Max had started packing the day before. They couldn't believe how much stuff they had accumulated over a period of fifteen years. Soon they had started making piles, one pile for things they would take with them, another one for things that would be left at the compound to be retrieved later on and a pile of pure junk that made a nice bonfire that night.  
  
By nightfall, the pile of stuff they were taking with them had been loaded into large trunks that Max shrunk to fit snugly into their backpacks. Before they left the next morning, Alex walked through the entire house. It had been 'home' to them, for fifteen years, she would miss it, despite the fact that it was only miles away from the edge of the earth. When she arrived back in the kitchen, Orion was sitting on the counter staring at the place where the fruit basket used to sit.  
  
Alex had started worrying about how they were going to take Orion with them after they had finished packing, after all he was a free and wild animal that had chosen to live with them. She wasn't completely sure about taking him with them at all. Was it really up to her. Was it really her decision to make? Did she really have the right to take him out of his natural habitat? All she knew for sure was that if they would have to leave him behind, she would miss him dearly. Even if he had only spent a month with them, it already seemed like a lifetime in her mind.  
  
When it came time to leave , the Portkey they were using (just in case Orion wanted to come), was set to go of at eleven o'clock in the morning. Alex and Max were standing in the meadow, holding on to an old straw sun hat just waiting for that exact time to arrive, when Orion walked over and just before the Portkey activated, grabbed hold of it.  
  
Orion had watched all the commotion, over the past few days with a slight tinge of regret. Humans sure behaved strangely. Nevertheless, what had to be done, had to be done. If they did not leave, his purpose would never be fulfilled. As the leader of his little pack, for that's what he considered Alex and Max to be, he had a responsibility to protect them no matter what, or where he had to go.  
When his people walked out of the house that morning, locking up everything behind them, he realised that the time to leave had come. Intelligent as he was, he had realised that holding on to things seemed to be a strange but novel method of transportation. After all, he had seen two people arrive that way. Professor Dumbledore with the use of a bracelet and Professor Snape by means of baseball cap.  
  
He ran over to his humans and grabbed a hold of the hat just before the Portkey went of. He felt a strange tugging around his waist, not a painful feeling, just the strange sensation of being pulled to another place as if with a rope that was tied around your middle. When the tugging stopped, Orion looked around to find himself in a courtyard of a large stone building...  
  
Albus Dumbledore had been awaiting the arrival of his new Professors. He had set the timer on the Portkey himself and located the arrival point in his private courtyard at Hogwarts. What he had not expected was the arrival of a third passenger. He was, however, pleasantly surprised by its unforeseen presence. Orion would certainly keep everyone, especially Severus, at Hogwarts on their toes.  
  
((((  
  
On the Hogwarts' Express, everything was going as it should. The countryside was rolling by at an even pace, revealing luscious and rolling hills, forests, fields with large herds of cattle and sheep and the occasional pond with its very own flock of ducks. The sun was shining down on the speedily advancing train and the students were all in high spirits, to be testified by the sounds of laughter and mirth up and down the corridors.  
  
Shortly after the train had left King's Cross, Hermione and Ron, went up the train to the compartment preserved for the Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl, to receive their briefing for the new school year. Harry and Ginny spent the time talking, playing exploding snap and reading the 'Quibbler', a magazine which due to its mostly make-believe contents made for an enjoyable read.  
  
Friends regularly stopped by the compartment (no comma) to catch up on important summer events, share news, treats and simply say 'hi'. Neville and Luna stopped by, as did some of the other members of the DA. Dean and Seamus even stayed to play a few games of Exploding Snap.  
  
When the Witch that ran the food trolley opened their compartment door, Hermione and Ron had finally returned from their meeting. The new Head Boy, a Ravenclaw by the name of Iason Graystone, had apparently given a very long speech about the responsibilities and perks of being a prefect, that had made even Hermione's eyes glaze over. Harry ordered a few Cauldron cakes, Pumpkin Pasties and lots of Chocolate Frogs. After he paid the Witch, they all dug in as if they hadn't eaten for four days.  
  
The only moment spoiling the mood on the train ride took place at a quarter past two, when Draco Malfoy and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, soiled the air of the Trio's compartment by opening the doors.  
  
"My, my, would you look in here. If it isn't the Mudblood, the Weasel and the wannabe Hero," Malfoy sneered in his trademark fashion.  
  
"Get lost Malfoy, go and find someone who gives a damn, to listen to you and your nonsensical dribble," Ron said adding under his breath, "you twitchy little white ferret."  
  
Ron was incredibly annoyed by the blond boy's presence.  
  
"Indeed Malfoy, go spoil someone else's air with your ranting," added Hermione.  
  
Harry got up out of his seat and moved to the compartment door.  
  
"Goodbye Malfoy, hope I never see you again, maybe you'll enjoy the outside of the door for a change," he said coldly, as he closed the door in his face.  
  
Ginny chuckled and returned to her copy of the Quibbler, which was upside down. Harry figured she was doing the Arithmancy riddle that was always included in the magazine. He watched as Sirius chased a chocolate frog around the compartment. The little marmoset had taken quite a liking to them and enjoyed hunting the sweet candy down.  
  
((((  
  
At Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had shown Alex and Max where their quarters were, they had spent the past two hours putting away their belongings into the closets, desks, bookshelves, and cabinets provided for them. In total, their quarters counted six rooms - the bedroom, the bathroom, two studies, a living area, and a kitchen. Since Orion preferred sleeping in front of fireplaces, they had made sure there were three available he could choose from; One in the living room, one in the bedroom, and a last one in the kitchen. They had expressly applied for one before they accepted Dumbledore's offer, they had spent fifteen years on their own. Alex and Max thourougly enjoyed being on their own once in a while.  
  
Right now, Orion was nowhere to be seen. He had wandered off shortly after their arrival at Hogwarts, but the Crofts weren't worried. They knew he would more then likely pop up somewhere around dinnertime, when his stomach would rule his actions. Alex and Max were wondering how the students would react to the Demiguises presence. Moreover, vice versa, how Orion would react to that flood of new people to meet.  
  
Alex hoped she wouldn't have to get up every morning to calm down students, who almost had heart attacks because of Orion's unique personal wake up call. She had lovingly named it the stare and scream technique, after Orion's encounter with Snape.  
  
Orion had left his humans and sauntered through deserted corridors and empty hallways, down huge marble staircases and up rickety wooden ones. Exploring his new territory was of the utmost importance, but when he picked up a familiar scent, he was temporarily distracted and walked towards its emitter.  
  
He walked totally undisturbed and calmly into the private office of Professor Severus Snape, who was in the process of making the final additions to the Wolfsbane potion he had been commissioned to make for the Order. Orion felt a slight tingling, as he walked in between the door posts and a distant voice saying, "turn around immediatly, you have no business here." But Orion paid it no heed.  
  
It was a good thing that Orion had been so quiet, or Snape might have had to start all over again. When he did see the Demiguise, he knocked over his only container of Monkshood - the final ingredient to this difficult to brew potion, which had to be added in a purified state. The heap of powder now found on the floor amid shards of glass had become worthless.  
  
Snape drove Orion out of the room, feeling terribly annoyed that he had let the animal get the better of him for a second time. He could have sworn that its attitude exuded amusement at his actions.  
  
Orion didn't mind being driven out of the Potions Masters' office, because soon afterwards he picked up an even more interesting smell. The smell of food, which led him straight though the maze of corridors and hallways, to the Great Hall for a late lunch together with his humans, Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Hagrid. He grabbed himself a banana, an apple and a slice of bacon off the table and sat down in between the chairs to eat in peace.  
  
Alex and Max were enjoying the company and were talking to their neighbours. When orion walked into the Hall, the other Professors fell quiet.  
  
"Ah yes everyone, I forgot to mention that the Crofts had found themselves a very peculiar pet. Allow me to introduce 'Orion', our new resident Demiguise," Professor Dumbledore said.  
  
"You call that a peculiar pet Albus?" said Professor McGonagall adding under her breath, "Well at least its not a dragon." Glancing over at Hagrid.  
  
Alex and Max spent the rest of lunch explaining why Orion was living with them...  
  
((((  
  
When it started to get dark outside, Hermione and Ginny forced the boys to leave the compartment, to change into their robes, ordering them to do the same. Fifteen minutes later or so, the Hogwarts Express rolled into Hogsmeade station.  
  
The voice of their good friend Hagrid was booming across the platform, "Firs' years an' transfer students follow me! Firs' years an' transfer students this way...!"  
  
Harry waved at him, while leaving the platform following in the footsteps of Ron and Hermione, who were steadily heading for one of the Thestral drawn carriages. Harry wondered if they saw the skeletal horses now too, after the whole ordeal at the Ministry before the summer. If they did, they didn't show it. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny shared a carriage, which was soon rattling its way up the road to Hogwarts Castle itself.  
  
When the line of carriages ground to a halt, the collective student body rushed its way through the giant entrance doors to the castle, hurrying through the hallway towards the Great Hall. Where they settled down at their house tables impatiently awaiting the arrival of the first years, and the transfer students that had generated quite some excitement. Hogwarts didn't usually accept transfer students, and this year no less than fifteen students of different ages from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had requested transfers to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.  
  
The murmuring in the Great Hall fell silent when Professor McGonagall opened the entrance doors to enable the new students' entry. It was a very different view compared to previous years. Not only the little first years, Harry thought he even saw a few possible sixth and seventh years. Harry waved at Hagrid, who had now taken his seat at the Head table next to two new professors. He was wondering who would be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, when Professor McGonagall brought in the three-legged stool and the ragged Sorting Hat.  
  
The Hat opened the ragged tear that represented its mouth and started to sing. The transfer students looked at it with concern and excitement, wondering what had possessed a person to enable a hat to speak.

* * *

"Hear me! O students, teachers, and all. Hear me!  
For another year has come.  
A year of toil and trouble,  
Which we will surely regret double.  
  
"Head my warning,  
Twice spoken now.  
Without learning,  
That if within you there is a row[1].  
  
You will be defeated,  
However, if you stand united.  
All the houses of Hogwarts one,  
Any enemy you face will soon be gone.  
  
"I sort you into houses,  
Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin,  
Houses great and none alike,  
Do not take their protective walls as dividing lines,  
Gryffindor, the mighty and brave,  
Hufflepuff, the loyal and true,  
Ravenclaw, the witty and resourceful,  
Slytherin, the cunning and the secretive.  
  
"For one more year will I sort,  
For I foresee a time when there will be no need,  
For there will be nought  
For me too sort  
  
"If inner quarrel is not resolved  
If you all continue to stumble  
Over petty differences of no concern  
The walls of Hogwarts will surely crumble."

* * *

An audible sigh resounded through the hall when the Hat finished his song, and murmurs popped up throughout discussing the ominous message it had delivered yet again. Hermione, the ever watchful, had even copied the song down on a piece of parchment, she was hoping that the predictions the Hat had made would not come true.  
  
Professor McGonagall, trying to turn the attention of the students away from the rather disturbing song, called out the name of the first student to be sorted, "Evander Burns." He became a Ravenclaw. By the time all the first years had been sorted, Gryffindor had gained eleven new students, Ravenclaw gained nine, Hufflepuff twelve and Slytherin gained only seven new students.  
  
Professor McGonagall then turned to introduce the first of the transfer students. Emma Darmalion, a third year transferee of Beaux-Batons, became a Slytherin. Harry lost his interest in the sorting very soon and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the food. He only looked up when hearing the Hat shout "Gryffindor", which actually happened quite often. Out of the fifteen transferees, eight students became new Gryffindors, including two sixth year and two seventh years.  
  
Slytherin only got that one extra student, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw both got three, and then the Hat was left alone on his stool. While Professor McGonagall carried it out of the hall, Professor Dumbledore stood up at the Head table and said, "I am sure you are all hungry, so I won't boar you with speeches now. Let's eat!"  
  
Next thing, the tables were bending from the weight of all the food that had been heaped on. The house-elves had really outdone themselves this time....  
  
When all the golden plates were empty again, and everyone's belly's had been stuffed -not even Ron could say 'cow', Professor Dumbledore rose again.  
  
"Welcome all, to another year at Hogwarts School for Wizardry and Witchcraft. It is a great sight to see so many new students here this year, as it is wonderful to welcome all of our long timers back again. To the transfer students among us: do not be afraid to ask questions to your dorm mates or prefects. They will surely be glad to assist in any way and explain how everything at Hogwarts works.  
  
"I am also pleased to announce that this years Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alexandra Croft. Professor Croft is joined by her husband, Professor Maximilian Croft, who will be taking over the some of the teaching responsibilities for Professors McGonagall and Snape, have joined us this year. I am very pleased to have them here, hopefully they will remain Professors here for many years to come.  
  
"Give them a welcoming applause everyone..."  
  
The Professor encouraged the students, as the two new staff members rose from their chairs and the clapping, that started tentatively grew to a roaring noise. The Gryffindor table was cheering and howling, the loudest of them all.  
  
"As it is late, and I am sure many of you are already falling asleep right here on your seats, I will not keep you for much longer. A good night to all of you and a fresh start for all of you in the morning."  
  
The Hall erupted into a roaring applause and then started to get up and leave.. The first years, who were totally exhausted, went first, following the prefects who called for the first years and the transfer students to join them, showing them the way to the dorms.  
  
Harry walked up to the Fat Lady and whispered the new password 'firefly' at her, the portrait swung open to reveal the welcoming common room that was mostly deserted. A fire was burning in the large fireplace and was adding a homely feeling to the room, a sensation that was incredibly welcoming to all students, whether they were new or not. Harry climbed the stairs to his dorm, which now had a plaque saying ' Sixth Years' attached to the door.  
  
A sixth four-poster bed had been added to the room, to accommodate the new sixth year boy, who as soon as Harry walked through the door, introduced himself, "Milan Bourdean, nice to meet you."  
  
Harry replied, "Harry Potter, same here." He extended his hand towards the new boy.  
  
"Harry Potter, the Harry Potter? You are the Boy-Who-Lived, that Harry Potter?" Milan uttered very impressed by this world famous person standing in front of him.  
  
Harry thought to himself, 'Oh no, not another one of those hero worshippers, please God, not another Colin Creevey,' and said as a jest, "Yes, that Harry Potter, but do you mind I'm trying to remain incognito, low profile you know."  
  
"Yes, yes off course, I won't say a word," he other boy swore, a very serious look on his face.  
  
"Hey hold it, oh man you're serious. Well, I wasn't, it was just a joke. It is not like I could've kept that secret for long at Hogwarts anyway. I'm just a normal guy, no different from you. Don't you dare treat me any different," Harry added with a huge smile on his face.  
  
Maybe the new boy wouldn't be so bad after all.

Chapter Nine, Overseers and Under-Achievers  
  
[1] British term for a fight or an argument


	9. Chapter Nine, Overseers and UnderAchieve...

Chapter Nine, Overseers and Under-Achievers.  
  
After the banquet, Dumbledore retired to his office for the night. He had been pondering the conundrum Peter Pettigrew presented. The traitor had not said another word since he had been removed from Grimmauld Place. Hell, he hadn't even uttered another word after crying out for Lily to forgive him. He had cracked and had become a burden, utterly useless to the Order.  
  
Dumbledore had doled out orders to have him detained in an Order safe house, guarded by two Order members at all times and surrounded by anti- Apparition and anti-Animagus Wards. Dumbledore had hoped that time would restore this unique source of information to mental health. Every day that passed however, diminished the chance, and his hope of that ever happening.  
  
Right now, Dumbledore was staring at the book that Pettigrew had carried with him into Grimmauld Place in his Animagus form. It was a really old volume, encased in a thick, heavy cover of Horntail Dragon Skin. The embossed golden lettering that had once revealed the title had weathered away, only leaving the indentations 'Phelthane's ...'. The contents of the book, several chapters of priceless information, were written in an indecipherable code. A code he needed Pettigrew to break.  
  
The Headmaster gathered that the book was an ancient Grimoire, a tome of spells written down by their inventor, Pheltane, to preserve them for his descendants. The volume had probably been written in code to keep evildoers from using them to cause harm. Dumbledore had researched the apparent author of the book only to find out that the man had died some seven hundred and eighty years ago. He died leaving behind two children, identical twin girls.  
  
He had looked into the family line further, only to be disappointed because of the gaping holes in the documentation of that era, which was scarce, ill written and far in between.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head, got up out of his seat and walked to his bedroom to turn in for the night. He was considering letting Severus Snape use Legillimency, to peruse the mind of Pettigrew for the key to unlocking the cipher, the code, but feared that the process might damage the already fragile mind further.  
  
With a single word, he extinguished the candles in the apartment; he slid underneath the covers and let his mind wander.  
  
Mean while, Orion had gone in search of one particularly interesting smell, in fact it was a combination of smells, one human and one animal. His curiosity piqued, Orion set out to hunt down the origins of this smell. He faintly remembered smelling this scent before, on his female adoptee's clothing, but that was a long time ago.  
  
He had started following the smell in the Great Hall, at a table dressed up in reds and gold's, followed it out into the huge hallway and started climbing up the stairs in pursuit. Orion was sometimes baffled by the walls, which were actually doors acting like walls, walls pretending to be doors, or staircases that moved as he was climbing on them. He had even run into a door that wouldn't open unless you tickled it.  
  
Eventually, after searching deep into the midnight hours, he found himself in front of a portrait of a large human woman, sleeping in her picture frame. Orion figured, that if you could open doors by tickling them, maybe that would work with portraits too.  
  
The Fat Lady awoke with a start; being tickled until she woke up was not a usual wake up call. The students she protected would usually shout at her until she woke up and responded.  
  
"Yes, who's there? Password please," she said to the dark night air, unable to see who was waiting in the shadows.  
  
Nothing but silence, and the shushed echo of her own words came floating back to her.  
  
The tickling, however, continued, in the end the Fat Lady was rolling around with laughter so hard that the frame unintentionally swung open and revealed the entrance to the Gryffindor Common room. Orion stepped through and resumed tracking the scent. Up the right turning flight of stairs, the third room counted from the bottom, the smell became stronger.  
  
Orion reached for the door handle and turned...there was no light in the room except for the few tendrils of moonlight, which were seeping in through the windows. The smell guided him to the first four-poster, of six beds that were present in the room, on his right. The drapes on the bed had been drawn, so Orion couldn't see inside. He snuck up to the bed, slid underneath the drapes and sat down on the covers.  
  
He saw a young boy, accompanied by a little animal that was asleep next to the boy's ear. Orion decided not to wake the two who were sleeping so peacefully and wait till morning to spring his arrival on them. He curled up at the foot of the boy's bed and fell asleep...  
  
The next morning brought the light of the rising sun streaming in through the windows of the sixth year boy's dorm room. Soon Neville, Dean, Seamus and Ron were bickering about who got to use the showers first. Milan, the new boy, was still asleep, sometimes stirring in his bed.  
  
Harry was having a great dream, Sirius was there and also another animal he had never seen before. Harry knew he was dreaming because the animal's pelt had a gorgeous royal blue colour and was right now sitting on the foot of his bed. Harry turned around for a few more minutes of sleep, forgetting all about his 'dream'. When he woke up fifteen minutes later, his hand reaching at the bedside table in search of his glasses, he noticed a presence hanging over him.  
  
When he put his glasses on, he saw two huge eyes staring back at him. Gentle and loving eyes that convinced Harry that he was looking at a new friend. When Harry wanted to sit up straighter, the new presence in his bed eased back, allowing him room to sit. Harry shook his head to make sure he wasn't imagining things.  
  
In front of him, was the animal from his dreams, bright royal blue pelt, and huge eyes. Was he still asleep? He pinched himself on the arm.  
  
"Auch, that hurt," he shouted in surprise, causing the other boys in the dorm to pull open the curtains of his four-poster bed. 'Ok,' he thought, 'so I'm not dreaming...'  
  
"Harry? What in heavens name is that? It can't be Sirius, because there is no way he could have grown that much over night," asked Ron. "Are you hiding one of Hagrid's critters again?" he added with a sarcastic tone.  
  
"No, I can honestly say that I have no idea where this animal came from, nor do I know why it seemed to enjoy sitting on my chest, staring at me."  
  
Neville shyly approached the animal and reached out to pet him. Orion, who had grown fond of being touched by humans, they always seemed to know where to scratch, surprised Neville, by rolling over and exposing his belly. Neville quickly recovered and resumed stroking the gorgeous animal's fur.  
  
"Harry, you'd better hurry, you need to have some breakfast before class, which starts in forty five minutes," Dean said, warning Harry that he had overslept. "And by the way Harry, if I read my textbook on magical creatures right, that is a 'Demiguise'."  
  
Harry leapt out of his bed, still wondering where that 'Demiguise' was that what Dean had called it, had come from. He shook his head again vigorously and headed for the bathroom, washed his face, and returned to their dorm room to get dressed. After putting on his robes, Sirius jumped up onto his shoulder and settled there so he could get him some breakfast before returning the little tyke to the dorm. Harry grabbed the stasis box; he now used it to store the crickets he needed for Sirius's diet, to keep them nice and fresh. The boys headed to the Great Hall for breakfast followed shortly by Orion.  
  
When he entered the Great Hall, Alex saw Orion walk in with a group of boys, one of which seemed familiar to her. Wasn't that the boy, who had almost knocked her over at Diagon Alley, on his way to the Notary's office?  
  
Orion's presence made people who were animatedly talking to their friends drop everything to stare over their shoulders, whispers along the lines of, 'what is that?' 'Where did it come from?' 'What is it doing with Potter?' sprung up everywhere.  
  
"Albus, I'm sorry. Professor Dumbledore. Who is that boy, the one with the unruly black hair, with that small animal on his shoulder?" Alex asked the man sitting on her right.  
  
"Oh, but Alex my dear, that is Harry Potter. Didn't you know?" the old man replied with a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
'Harry Potter,' she thought to herself, 'surely not the son of James Potter, or could it...' Then it hit her, but of course, that's why she had had that nagging feeling, the feeling that she knew the boy before.  
  
"Well," she said, "it seems that Orion has performed his wake up call again, though it was better received this time."  
  
A huge smile appeared on her face as she saw the reaction her tall, greasy- haired colleague presented to her remark.  
  
Max, who sat on her left, snickered as he saw the possessive behaviour Orion was presenting over the group of boys, and said, "Well maybe now he won't have to harass my rats any more. There are plenty of playmates for him around."  
  
Alex got up from her seat; bid everyone at the Head table a good day. Next, she walked towards Orion, patted him on the back and said, "I hope Orion didn't scare you boys too much? He has special way of making new friends."  
  
"Good Morning, Professor Croft, yeah he does," Harry replied with a little smile. "I found him this morning...or maybe he found me, my nose was almost touching his, luckily I didn't have my glasses on, or I might have freaked."  
  
"Oh, well then you reacted better than Professor Snape, who almost catapulted him clean across the room when he woke up with Orion on his chest at our house last week."  
  
This mental image created an outbreak of the giggles that rapidly spread across the Gryffindor table. Every single person tried to imagine the odious Professor Severus Snape scared of Orion, who seemed such a gentle animal.  
  
"Well youngsters, eat your breakfast," Alex uttered, trying to hide her own amusement at the whole situation, "Classes will start soon, and I do believe I have the sixth year Gryffindors for my first period."  
  
She then walked out of the Hall, followed by Orion, who had sneaked a few bananas off of the Gryffindor breakfast table.  
  
A few minutes later, Hermione walked over to sit with her friends.  
  
"You are both late, overslept again?" she asked.  
  
"No, Hermione. We just got a little side tracked this morning, when Orion-" Harry thought that was the animals name, "-decided to give me the honour of his special wake up call." Harry answered with a shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"Orion? Who, what? Well, never mind then, here are our class schedules," she replied a little confused, as she handed them out to her friends.  
  
"Well, we had better get going, or we'll be late for our first class...," Harry said before getting up out of his seat.  
  
Before Hermione and Ron could catch up, Harry had walked out of the Great Hall.  
  
The first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the new school year looked like it was going to get interesting. When Harry walked into the classroom, he saw that the Professor had set up a cage with what looked like a bat on her desk and had drawn the curtains of the classroom shut. Slowly the students filed into the now candle lit room, sitting with friends and whispering about what they expected from this new teacher.  
  
When everyone was accounted for, Professor Croft started speaking, "Good morning class."  
  
"Good Morning, Professor Croft," replied the class, made up of Gryffindor and Slytherin Sixth years.  
  
"Let's start with that shall we, since there will be two professors Croft teaching at Hogwarts this year I will allow you to call me Professor Alex, to avoid any confusion. Ok, that's that. Now as for your books, we won't be needing them in class today, so if you would, please put them away."  
  
The sound of books being put back in their satchels was quite loud. All the students had expected a repeat Umbridge and were now getting excited at the prospect of actually learning how to deal with Dark Creatures.  
  
"I know you had a rather dreadful teacher last year, Umbridle or something of the sort, who only taught you what she thought you needed to know from a book, if I am correct."  
  
Hermione raised her hand high in the air and Alex acknowledged her.  
  
"Yes, Professor Alex, that was Dolores Umbridge, she had us reading 'Defence Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles' the whole year, saying that if we studied hard enough without actually practicing the spells, we would do fine on our OWLs."  
  
"Indeed, dreadful woman, however it does not seem to have had that large an impact on most of the Gryffindor students in the class. I have reviewed the scores and they were remarkably high. Care to explain?"Alex said with a little smile.  
  
She had heard from Headmaster Dumbledore that Harry Potter and his friends had started a club to practice their techniques on their own. Alex thought it was a great idea, and hoped to continue the club this year.  
  
Harry tentatively raised his hand, "Yes, euhm, Professor Alex. We kind of started a club to practice what Professor Umbridge wouldn't teach us."  
  
"What an excellent idea, no wonder you Gryffindors did so well on your OWLs. Did you teach the other students, Harry? I heard from Professor Lupin that you have a rather vast knowledge of Defence Against the Dark Arts."  
  
Harry was glowing with pride and said, "Yes, I did, because well there was no-one else."  
  
"You did an excellent job dear, I would like to talk to you in my office after class, if you don't mind," Alex replied thinking, 'What an intelligent young man, just like his father.'  
  
"Back to class, today I have brought a Vampire bat with me, who can tell me what they really are."  
  
Immediately after finishing her question, Hermione's hand was high up in the air...  
  
When class finished, everyone was very excited, even Hermione said she had learned something new about Vampire bats. The new professor would be a big hit with all the students. Harry told Ron and Hermione that he would come to their Charms class a bit late because Mrs. Croft wanted to talk to him first.  
  
He walked into her office, which now looked like Harry thought it should. It looked like it had when Remus had been a professor here, bookshelves filled to the brim with 'How to' books, a large cage in the corner, an aquarium with small sea monkeys inside in front of the window and lastly a large desk with comfy chairs. When Harry saw Professor Alex, she was just putting away her 'How to Identify and Kill a Vampire Bat' book.  
  
"Oh, hi Harry," the Professor said when she noticed his presence. "Please have a seat." She pointed at the chair in front of the desk.  
  
When they were both seated, she started the conversation by saying, "Professor Dumbledore told me about your 'Defence Association', or do you prefer 'Dumbledore's Army?'"  
  
This question brought a smile to Harry's face and he replied, "We used, Defence Association, DA for short. 'Dumbledore's Army' was on the sign up sheet because we wanted to spite Umbridge."  
  
"Well Harry, what I asked you in here for was, would you like to continue your Defence Association? I believe a lot of students could benefit from a few training rounds every once in a while. Especially the fifth and seventh years could use some tutoring, with the OWLs and the NEWTs rapidly approaching."  
  
"I would be glad to, but I didn't do it all on my own, I would have to ask Ron and Hermione too. Without them I never could have done it," Harry answered modestly.  
  
"Of course you can ask your friends first. Let me know your answer at our next lesson. That will give me some time to start planning. You will have to open the membership to all the houses however. I believe you purposefully did not inform the Slytherins of the existence of your club? In addition, I will be present at practically all your meetings. Is that all right with you?"  
  
"Yes, Professor Alex, but would you allow me to make some questionnaires then, so that people who only want in to make trouble can be weeded out?"  
  
"Sure Harry, in fact that sounds like a great idea. Now run along, I know you have another class, if it hasn't already begun. I had better give you a tardy slip to excuse you," Alex said while scribbling the reason for Harry's tardiness down on a strip of parchment and sending him off.  
  
The rest of the day passed relatively calmly, Harry told Ron and Hermione about his conversation with Professor Alex over lunch and both of them quickly agreed to start up the DA again. Hermione even congratulated Harry about adding the questionnaires as a prerequisite for admission to the club. The Trio shuddered at the thought of Draco Malfoy and his Goons wrecking the whole thing.  
  
After supper, Hermione and Ron were off to their first official Prefects meeting. Harry was still in the Great Hall feeding Sirius (Harry had run up to the dorm after his last class to go get him), when Orion popped his head in through the doors, curious still about Harry's companion.  
  
Sirius cautiously climbed down Harry's arm onto the table, looking straight at Orion, as if tempting the larger animal to join him up there. Orion, who was anything but scared, quickly jumped up, and Harry observed their interaction. The animals' noses were touching they were both sniffing around each other. Harry thought they had decided to be friends, because Sirius walked over to his feeding bowl picked up a cricket and handed it to Orion, who tastily devoured it whole.  
  
After calling for Dobby to take the last dishes off the table, Harry called Sirius back to him and walked to the Gryffindor common room. Just as he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Orion caught up with them, two apples in his right hand. Harry said the password and then had to wait for Orion to clear the way, before climbing in himself.  
  
He picked one of the comfy plush armchairs facing the fireplace to sit down and read. Orion had curled up in front of the fireplace, tastily eating his apples. Harry put Sirius on the arms of the chair and walked up to his dorm room to get a book. He thought it was time to figure out why Hermione had given him 'Wizard Bloodlines Through the Ages, An Illustrated Genealogy'.  
  
He had started reading, but halfway through the second chapter, Neville walked into the common room, dirty as hell.  
  
Harry asked, "What the bloody hell happened, Neville? Is Malfoy up to his old tricks again?"  
  
"Oh no Harry, it is nothing like that. I am doing extra credit work with Professor Sprout, working in the greenhouses. She says that she doesn't understand why I'm no good at Potions, because Herbology is so important to start with on that subject," Neville said with a huge grin on his face.  
  
"Quite right Neville, your problem is that you are afraid of Snape all the time in stead of paying attention to your Potion, maybe Professor Croft will take over a few of your lessons and you'll be able to show what you are able to do," Harry said to encourage Neville. God only knew how much the boy needed that.  
  
After that, Neville went upstairs to take a well-deserved shower and Harry continued reading. An hour later Ron and Hermione walked in though the portrait hole. They seemed to be talking about schedules and rotations. When Ron saw Harry, he walked over and sat down in the armchair next to Harry's.  
  
"You'll never guess what Dumbledore has us do now. He is nuts, really," he said with a loud sigh.  
  
"Don't exaggerate Ron, it is not that bad an idea," scolded Hermione.  
  
"Ok, you two hold it right there, before you are off again. What are you talking about? Maybe I can prevent you two from going at each others throats," Harry interjected, seeing another one of their famous rows coming on.  
  
Hermione answered by saying, "Well, I think it is a great idea. Iason Graystone brought it up at the prefects meeting today. He thought that overseers..."  
  
"Hermione, slow down. What the hell are overseers? Explain this idea in English please."  
  
"Overseers are the four students, one from each house, who are going to be in charge of inter-house relations," she replied. "Isn't it great!"  
  
Harry frowned and said, "That sounds like an Educational Decree, if I ever heard of one. Who got picked from Gryffindor?"  
  
Ron replied agitated, "The biggest Percy wannabe there is, that seventh year girl, Amanda Prunella Cates. We already have to get down on our knees to thank God, because she didn't become Head Girl this year."  
  
Chapter Ten, Defence Association Issues. 


	10. Chapter Ten, Defence Association Issues

Chapter Ten, Defence Association Issues.  
  
Slowly, but surely, over the next few weeks, life at Hogwarts returned to normal. The hallways were yet again teeming with life. The house-elves were happily being swamped with all the cooking, cleaning and laundry they had to do. The students were slowly readjusting to the school routine and to living in the dorms with all their friends. The Great Hall was brimming with conversations and laughter at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  
  
Hogwarts had come to life again, after a long quiet summer. You could even see it in the eyes of the portraits they positively sparkled with glee. With the students return, they could finally start gossiping again. Summers always stunted their information gathering efforts, with only the house- elves, ghosts, and the solitary Professor to gossip about. Peeves was happily harassing the first years, and the ghosts, well, they were ghosts.  
  
The new teachers had become a great hit, and Mrs. Croft's Defence Against the Dark Arts class was fast becoming every one's favourite subject. After her first lesson, the one with the Vampire bat. She had brought a real Vampire to school. Next lesson she brought in a Grendl (a member of the species that Beowulf, that Muggle legend talks about), and the week after that she brought in a Lethifold in a sealed glass cube. She made her lessons so interesting, that absenteeism was a thing of the past in her classroom.  
  
The first year Potion brewing talents were blossoming under the watchful and supportive eye of the Assistant Potions teacher, Professor Croft. Even Neville, who was only taking the remedial Potions class this year, because his Grandmother insisted that he should. Neville had signed up for tutoring sessions with the Assistant Professor. The result being that Neville, who could do no good in Snape's class, was by now getting passing grades on his Potions and his essays. Professor Snape, contented by the teaching abilities of his new assistant, though he still considered Max a bit soft on the students, left more and more of his teaching responsibilities to him.  
  
Snape was incredibly burdened by his responsible because he was in fact working for three 'Masters'. Masters who called him away increasingly more and more after summer's end. Not to mention that he would be summoned at the weirdest times, three o'clock in the morning, in the middle of his advanced (N.E.W.T.) potions class... The only thing Snape was grateful for was that Voldemort only summoned him at night; it would have been impossible to explain to the students, otherwise.  
  
Serving Voldemort (preparing Potions and poisons), Hogwarts (teaching) and the Order (preparing Potions and the Simulacrum for the final test of the Crenellation Coal Potion), barely left him with any time to sleep. By the end of the first month, Severus Snape was exhausted! Mentally and physically exhausted! He was unable to do his main and foremost task, to teach and torment his students.  
  
He turned over all classes from the first-years up to the fourth-years to his assistant, and only taught the fifth, sixth and seventh-years himself. Even then, Professor Croft would have to take over if Professor Snape was to be called away urgently.  
  
The students started to go to Professor Croft with all of their questions regarding Potions. Even the seventh-year N.E.W.T. class students preferred asking Max, because you actually got a straight, useful answer. Instead of a sneer and five points off from Snape.  
  
Because Professor Croft was a reasonably good-looking man, an almost Gilderoy Lockheart type fan club, of schoolgirls who were convinced they loved him, popped up. Some members even followed their idol around, stared at him like little lovesick puppies at lunch and wrote anonymous (Not!) letters declaring their undying devotion. The object of their affection would read the letters out loud to his wife, and many a time after dinner, roaring laughter could be heard, coming from the Croft's living quarters.  
  
Orion, the rascal, had quickly become Gryffindor's favourite. If, you didn't find him lounging about, in front of the fireplace in the Croft's apartment. He would usually be found in the Gryffindor common room, on his back, being petted by several of the first year girls. Orion also seemed to be an excellent judge of character, because the only common room he had yet to be seen in, was the Slytherin dungeon.  
  
Harry had told Mrs. Croft at the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson he had, that he, Hermione and Ron would be more than willing to continue with the Defence Association. He also requested some time to develop a schedule to accommodate both advanced (last years DA members) and beginning members. Harry also wanted a questionnaire, to weed out any unwanted elements.  
  
Mrs. Croft had agreed to all of Harry's requests and had given him a month to get organised. A month that was now at an end...  
  
That morning, Harry woke up early, it had been a good thing he had gone to bed before ten o'clock last night; he needed to get the sign-up sheets and the questionnaires over to Mrs. Croft, for her final approval. The Trio had decided on working with two groups. One group containing the advanced and old Defence Association members, and a second group, that would contain the new members, until they were skilled enough to join the advanced group.  
  
Harry shook his head violently, until he was absolutely awake. He put on a shirt and a pair of jeans, he didn't need his full wizard uniform to go to the Owlery. Harry thought Hedwig would enjoy having something to do. Without his Godfather, Harry didn't really have anyone to write to, that wasn't living with him already. Sirius climbed on Harry's shoulder as he left the dorm room and walked down the stairs.  
  
Even though it was only six o'clock in the morning, Harry found that he was not alone in the common room, the new sixth year girl, Delphine Nicolevskaya was up also. She was looking out the window, out over the lake, lost in her own thoughts.  
  
She didn't even appear to notice that Harry was standing behind her until he touched her on the shoulder saying, "Are you all right, Delphine?"  
  
Startled she jumped up, bumped into Harry and thus pushed him onto the floor before saying, "Oh, I'm really sorry, I didn't hear you come down. I woke up really early today and wanted to enjoy the silence for as long as it lasted. What did you say?"  
  
She walked over and reached out to help Harry stand up again.  
  
"Nothing important really," he replied, "I just asked if you were all right, you were staring out the window, with kind of a sad expression on your face."  
  
Harry then collected the pieces of parchment, which had also gone flying after Harry had gotten a shove; he tied them together with a string and headed towards the common room exit.  
  
"Where are you going?" Delphine asked.  
  
"I have to send these to Mrs. Croft, they are the sign up sheets and the questionnaires for the DADA club. I thought I would give my pet owl something to do, besides hunting down mice."  
  
"Oh great idea, do you mind if I walk with you?"  
  
"No, you're welcome to join me..."  
  
A few empty hallways and staircases later, Harry asked, "So how do you like it here, at Hogwarts?"  
  
"It's a good school, no doubt about that, but I miss my friends back at Durmstrang," she replied with a hint of regret in her voice.  
  
"Aren't there any other Durmstrang transfers students? I thought I heard Professor McGonagall mention quite a few a month ago."  
  
"Yes, but they are all purebloods and consider it offensive that I got sorted into Gryffindor. Lazlo Volkanov, the boy who was sorted into Slytherin, was in my year at Durmstrang. Back then we used to talk for hours about Transfigurations, our favourite subject. Since we transferred here, all he has said to me are the same two words, over and over again. 'Mudblood lover'."  
  
Without knowing what to say to this revelation, Harry and Delphine walked the rest of the way to the Owlery in silence. In the Owlery, Harry quickly attached the package of parchments to the leg of his faithful owl, Hedwig. She had flown down from her perch in the rafters to the lowest beam when she saw her master come in. Delphine looked around with mild interest at the multitude of magnificent owls present in the Owlery at this hour, the end of the night and the dawn of a new day.  
  
After asking Hedwig, "The package is for Professor Alex, could you deliver it at breakfast?" Harry received a nip on his fingers and thus reassured, he turned around and walked out of the tower, leaving Delphine standing next to one of the long, narrow and glassless windows, staring out over the Forbidden Forest. Harry walked back to the Gryffindor common room at a brisk pace. He wanted to shower and change before breakfast.  
  
When he arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, she was still wiping away tears of laughter from her cheeks. Harry grinned and said the password, "Glee club" thinking 'looks like Orion is gracing us with his presence again. I wonder who he is going to freak out this time?'  
  
All the other sixth year boys had already undergone the freak and stare technique and had reacted very well considering. Not even Neville, who was not exactly the bravest of the bunch, had catapulted Orion through the dorm when his turn came around. Milan had in fact shown the worst reaction, he had started shouting French swear words, Putain, salope and bête idiot, being some of the less inflammatory repeated words he uttered. Nevertheless, even Milan had calmed down by the time it was his turn to take a shower.  
  
With a last chuckle, Harry walked to his room and got a towel and his school uniform, soon it would be time for breakfast. Sirius jumped on the bed when he saw the towel. As much as he loved his master, showering was not one of his favourite passtimes. No, he would hunt down chocolate frogs all day long, if only he could keep his fur dry.  
  
Around midnight, the night before, Severus Snape had been recovering from his last Death Eater meeting. Voldemort had called on his followers relatively early. At half past nine in the evening, the black mark on his arm had started burning ...  
  
Flashback  
  
Potions essays had started flying, when Severus jumped up and rushed to the door. He only stopped long enough to pluck his long black cloak with the large hood off of the coat stand and to scoop his Potions case up from the ground underneath. He quickly ran through the corridors to the entrance hall, looked around for any witnesses and then dashed into the night.  
  
Once outside the castle gates and the anti-Apparition wards, he donned the cloak over his robes and Apparated to the meeting point. When he arrived, he was practically the last one to take his place in the circle. He was still panting a little from his exertion. Nevertheless, he heard a twig snap behind him, he resisted the urge to turn around and find out what caused the noise and pretended to be oblivious...  
  
His immediate neighbours (Crabbe on his left and Goyle on the right) looked over their shoulders. However, they soon lost interest when they didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  
  
A few minutes later, when the circle was virtually complete, Voldemort started speaking, shouting actually. He was displeased at the lack of progress, at the continued absence of Wormtail as well as any information regarding his whereabouts. Or the simple pleasure of having Wormtail's dead body in front of him.  
  
Voldemort spewed his rage and awarded punishment by means of the occasional Cruciatus Curse and called on several of his minions to report their findings.  
  
"Nott," he bellowed, "come forward and recount your progress."  
  
Nott, a frail wisp of a man, stumbled forward and started his treatise.  
  
"Azkaban has changed regimes my Lord. It has changed its guards, Sir. The Dementors that are your natural allies have been replaced, by Goblins. The Ministry obviously must have realised that if you proposed an alliance to the Dementors, they would accept..." he practically whispered.  
  
"The Ministry obviously realised! The Ministry obviously realised? Those Ministry buffoons wouldn't realise their rear ends were on fire if they didn't have the necessary paperwork lying right in front of them. No! This is Dumbledore's doing. That old coot, he is meddling in my affairs again," Voldemort spat out in an eruption of rage.  
  
The circle of followers grew slightly larger, because every single one unconsciously wanted to increase the distance between themselves and 'evil incarnate'.  
  
"Doesn't anyone have any good news? Why do I even keep you all around since you are all so utterly useless,"he continued. "Snape, report!"  
  
Snape picked up the Potions case he had previously placed on the ground next to his feet and walked to the centre of the circle. He replaced Nott, who had cowered backwards until he reached his own designated spot again.  
  
"I have done as my Dark Lord requested. The Poisons asked for are all ready and contained in this case. If my Master requires more, I have a larger stock available. You need only ask," Severus uttered in a serene and strong voice.  
  
"Bellatrix," Voldemort's voice boomed, "retrieve that case and bring it here."  
  
Bellatrix had been acting like a beaten dog, or Wormtail for that matter, for the past month. Bellatrix scrambled over to Snape, tore the case out of his hands, with an animal like ferocity and returned to her place at the right hand of Voldemort.  
  
"You may step down Snape, you have pleased me greatly. Wish that the rest of my followers were s competent as you."  
  
Snape returned to his place between Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed to be almost envious of the compliment he had received. He shook his head and attempted to get the looks of despair on their faces out of his mind. Instead he looked around the circle, over the past month, he had seen a steadfast deterioration in his 'fellow Death Eaters'. Their moral was low and at some points non-existent.  
  
He remembered thinking only a week ago, 'if only Harry were ready, Voldemort would be dead in no time...'  
  
Snape's attention veered from the proceedings of the inner circle for a while, as he attempted to hear whether someone was still observing the whole thing from the bushes behind him... Try as he might however, his ears couldn't pick up the slightest sound or movement that would suggest a presence, whatsoever. He returned to paying attention, Lee Travers and Donald Avery had just been called into the centre of the circle a few minutes earlier to report.  
  
Last meeting, Voldemort had assigned them the task of finding him new followers. From the fact that they returned to their places without enduring any suffering, Snape deduced that they had performed said task well. He had to stifle a groan of disappointment.  
  
Luckily the next two called upon, hadn't been as successful. Brandon Wilkes and Willard Jugson had been charged with the recovery of an old Grimoire. Snape unfortunately could not overhear the name of the book. They paid dearly for their failure, as their screams echoed into the night...  
  
End flashback  
  
Severus was sitting in his private quarters with a triple Fire whisky in hand. Trying to capture the events of the meeting while they were still prancing around in his head. The last thing he mentioned in his report was his suspicion that someone had been watching the meeting. Not a Death Eater, but an outsider. Whether he or she was a Wizard or a Muggle he didn't know. Severus however did know that whoever it was, he or she had superior skills at hiding themselves...  
  
For he hadn't been caught.  
  
Breakfast started with a flutter of wings, the owls delivering the mail for the day. Hedwig made Harry proud by landing right in front of Professor Alex, without hitting one of the flasks of Pumpkin juice that were grouped there. Unlike Pig, who would have bowled all the flasks over in his excitement! Once the Professor relieved her of her package, she flew over to the Gryffindor table to receive her reward. A few slices of bacon and some sips of Harry's Pumpkin juice.  
  
Harry received a smile from the head table. Professor Alex had quickly flipped through the parchments and considered them very well done. The timetable for the club was easy, while taking into consideration all the Quidditch practices the various members had to attend. Not to mention that the questionnaires were a gem, they were simple but asked just the right questions to weed out people who just wanted in for a lark. Alex was very proud of the students that prepared this. She figured that Hermione, the brains of their little outfit, would have had a lot to do with their conception.  
  
When breakfast was done, Harry and Hermione, the only two Gryffindors who were taking the N.E.W.T. Potions class, quickly walked down to the Dungeons. Lately, Professor Snape's mood had gotten even more unpredictable. On top of that, he often seemed tired and sometimes even downright drunk. Not even the few Slytherins, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, that had made the grades to get into the class, could get an appreciative word anymore.  
  
This year, the Sixth year N.E.W.T. Potions class was a small group; only eight people had made it through the tough selection process. Harry, Hermione, Blaise, Draco, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Padma Patil and Terry Boot. When Harry and Hermione walked into the Potions Classroom, they were incredibly relieved to find Professor Croft, not Snape sitting at the desk, going over the potion they were to prepare today.  
  
After everyone had taken their seats, the Professor started explaining the effects of the 'clear mirror' potion. He also elaborated on the uses and origins of the Potion. He said that it was a Potion primarily used by seers to scry for visions in the clarity of the liquid. Next, Professor Croft wrote the ingredients on the blackboard with a flick of his wand and told them to look on page 278 of their Potions textbook for the correct procedure.  
  
Harry and Hermione got started. However, not together... Harry was working with Susan Bones and Hermione had been paired up with Ernie Macmillan.  
  
Harry didn't really mind that he had to work with Susan; she was a nice girl. He only resented the reason why. The overseers had organised a sit down with the Headmaster. They proposed a way to improve inter-house relations ... They had suggested that if you needed to pair up with someone in whatever class, you had to choose someone from another house. Dumbledore didn't see any harm in this suggestion and now it was practically an unwritten rule at Hogwarts. Luckily it did not only apply to Gryffindors, everyone had to adhere to this newfangled rule. Draco had been paired up with Padma Patil in Potions class, which was not really that advantageous for him. He kept being distracted from his potion by Padma's good looks. Lastly, Terry Boot got paired up with Blaise Zabini.  
  
Soon Harry and Susan's Potion was merrily simmering for the required twenty three minutes, and Harry's mind drifted to more pleasant things. The Quidditch season would start up again soon. With Angelina, Alicia, Fred, George, and Katie graduating or 'escaping' last year, the Gryffindor team had become severely disabled.  
  
Harry would take up his position as Seeker again. Ginny was good, but she still had nothing on him when it came to catching the Snitch. Besides, she much preferred being a Chaser anyway. Ron was slowly getting the hang of being a good Keeper. Harry had scheduled some time for try-outs later in the day.  
  
He wanted to see if anyone could do better at being a beater than Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper. In addition, he also had to find two more Chasers that could catch and throw a Quaffle in the right direction. With only a month before the game against Slytherin, he couldn't afford to waste anymore time.  
  
Harry would have started earlier, if only the school board would lift the ban, Umbridge had placed upon him. Professor McGonagall had given him the good news, that the ban had finally been lifted, last Friday and she had returned his trusted Firebolt. It had been found in a remote area of the Dungeons, bolted and chained against a wall, behind a thick oak door.  
  
"Harry," Susan whispered, while shoving an elbow into his stomach. "Pay attention, the twenty three minutes are almost up."  
  
"Yes, the Potion," he replied, still a bit fazed. "What do we have to do next?"  
  
"We have to take it off the fire..."  
  
Harry took out his wand, said," Wingardium Leviosa," and levitated the heavy cauldron off of the flames. Next, he checked that off his Potions to do list, one of Professor Croft's tricks to get a potion right. "What's next?"  
  
"Stir counter clockwise fifty times and meanwhile add fifteen ounces of pure white sand to the mix."  
  
Harry measured the sand on his scales and Susan started stirring. He was about to add the sand, when Snape barged into the classroom. He looked really sick. His clothes looked dishevelled, he was even paler than usual and reeked of alcohol.  
  
"Finish up in quiet please," said Professor Croft, who sheperded Snape into the office adjoining the classroom.  
  
Harry and Susan finished their potions well within the time limit. They filled two sample flasks, wrote their names on the labels, and left them on the desk before they left. Harry was dying to find out what had happened to Snape.  
  
Later that afternoon, all the classes were done, and practically all of Gryffindor had congregated at the Quidditch field, to watch the try-outs themselves. Harry had been very pleased with the high number of people who wanted to try out. Some of the transfer students had even signed up, to support their House. By now, they were really fitting in nicely.  
  
Harry first wanted to try out the Chasers. He sent up Andrew and Jack with the Bludgers to make it difficult for them. And Ginny, armed with the Quaffle, to put them through their paces.  
  
Harry read the names of the first three applicants out loud, "Milan Bourdean, Iago Stefanovich and Dennis Creevey."  
  
He watched them move, Milan and Iago, a new fourth year, seemed to do quite well together, they were working as a team, passing the Quaffle nicely between them and Ginny. They were also doing a great job avoiding the Bludgers being sent at them by Andrew and Jack. Harry even noticed that Jack had improved a lot since last year. His aim and strength were a lot better.  
  
Dennis however, being photographed by his brother at every turn, was doing considerably worse. By the time ten minutes had gone by, the Bludgers had flung him off his broom twice. He had dropped the Quaffle six times and missed his teammates by miles if he tried passing them the Quaffle.  
  
No, to Harry it was perfectly clear that Dennis was not Quidditch material. Milan and Iago, however, were people he had to consider. He called on the next three people to try out. "Delphine Nicolevskaya, Parvati Patil and, Euan Stiles."  
  
Euan was a small, second year student who had been the first to sign up for Chaser try-outs when Harry had posted the request last Saturday.  
  
Harry spent one more hour looking at try-outs, before calling it a day. He, Andrew, Ron, Jack and Ginny, would decide together who would join the team. Harry announced to everyone why had tried out that the results would be posted on the bulletin board in the common room, the day after tomorrow.  
  
Chapter Eleven, Collecting and Gathering Minds. 


	11. Chapter Eleven, Collecting and Gathering...

Chapter Eleven, Collecting and Gathering Minds.  
  
"Albus, I don't know if we could do more for Peter at St. Mungo's, but there is virtually no chance of him recovering here," said Hippocrates Vance, a respected Healer at that medical institution and one of Dumbledore's oldest friends. The two older men were sitting in the parlour of an old country mansion, enjoying the scarce Indian summer sunshine coming in through the bay window.  
  
"Very well Hippocrates, thank you very much," replied a pensive Professor Dumbledore. "I was hoping he would recover on his own, but apparently the shock of seeing Harry was too much..."  
  
"What?" the Healer said. "Hold on a minute, Harry... you didn't mention this before ... He went catatonic after seeing Harry Potter!? That changes the situation."  
  
He sat back down in the armchair and took out his notebook. "Albus, I need you to tell me everything that he said and did that night. Everything, down to the smallest detail, no matter how insignificant you think it was. I may still get him to come around if I can work with that.  
  
He quickly grabbed his auto quotes quill and a piece of Parchment out of his leather doctors bag and sat back down.  
  
"Ok, I'm ready, tell me everything..."  
  
"Well Hippocrates, I can't exactly tell you everything, since there are some security issues regarding that night, but..."  
  
At Hogwarts, the answered questionnaires had started seeping in. They had only been handed out a day before and already created great controversy because of one of Hermione's little spells. She had enchanted the questionnaires. The outcome of the enchantment was that if you signed up with false intentions, you would pay dearly. Those wanting only to cause mayhem learned exactly why Hermione was considered the brightest with of her age.  
  
You had to walk around with Prat spelled out in green pimples, all over your face for at least a week, since there was no counter spell. Adding to that, the worse the havoc you were planning to wreak, the longer you had to bear the stigma of those green pimples on your forehead. Something a few of the fourth and fifth-year Slytherins, who had signed up to do just that, tried desperately to hide.  
  
By the end of the week, Harry, together with Professor Alex, had wrestled through piles and piles of applications they had received from all the interested students. Even second-years had enrolled, while the club was only intended for students of the last four years, as a kind of study aid with the O.W.L.S and the N.E.W.T.S in mind.  
  
In the end, after going through all the acceptable applications (unfortunately the second and third-years that had signed up, had to wait a few more years), Harry had been left with a rather extended group of 'beginners'. The group was so large actually (because practically every single student from fourth year to seventh year had signed up), that it had become necessary to schedule a third meeting. Otherwise it would be impossible to work with the group because there were simply too many people."  
  
Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione, and Ron, Draco Malfoy had made it through the screening; one of the few Slytherins who did. Based on his answers, Professor Alex had insisted he be accepted. In addition, the absence of the word Prat all over his face, which meant that he really wanted to learn, resulted in Harry grudgingly accepting him into the DA. Draco's goons, Crabbe and Goyle, however, had not made the cut. Harry had muttered something during dinner one night, about their answers being 'illegible' or was it 'illiterate'.  
  
After all those formalities and a myriad of paperwork, the first new DA meetings would be starting up again next week. An old, empty, and dusty classroom had been converted into their new practice space (Filch had been sneezing all week, because he had to clean the room the old fashioned way), and all the people involved were excited and raring to go.  
  
Monday, during lunch, Harry walked into 'his' classroom, to check if everything was ready for his first lesson later that night. Sirius jumped of his shoulder and went exploring underneath the furniture. Insects were always a nice addition to his diet... if he could find them.  
  
He looked around the room, which had a right wall that was now adorned with an incredibly large and real Foe Glass mirror (a donation from the school board); a variety of large and small Sneakoscopes and other Dark Detectors placed visibly in a cabinet in the right hand corner. There were loads of bookshelves along the left wall, their shelves bending in the middle, because every book on Defence Against the Dark Arts ever written was weighing down on them. Madame Pince had very sparingly gathered all the oldest, most used and spare copies of various Defence books out of the library.  
  
The floor had been covered with a thick padded mat, for added security, because you never knew what could happen when students were practising duelling. Snape had been adamant that there needed to be security measures and spells installed. Lastly, and very practically, a pile of pillows – you couldn't practice petrifying people without them – were stacked up in the left corner. Dean had even drawn a few colourful pictures, depicting duels, he had included the scenes from the duelling club a few years ago and the false Mad-Eye Moody's confrontation with Malfoy (bouncing white ferrets all the way), to brighten the space up a bit.  
  
Harry smiled and called Sirius, who had found himself a cockroach, back. Next, he turned around, locked the door, and walked to the Great Hall to get some lunch. It was going to be a long day. He would have to assess all the new applicants today and decide how he was going to divide them into groups. He would have to be very careful so as not to give some of the students the idea that they weren't good enough...  
  
Hippocrates was talking softly to the curled up figure that was lying in the corner of a white padded room. He had considered moving Pettigrew, after hearing how he got into this state and had eventually decided against it. His patient would be in a lot more danger, if any knowledge of his whereabouts were to find it's way into the outside world. Instead, he had converted a room in the remote mansion to suit his purposes. "Peter, I know you can hear me... Snap out of it. There is nothing you can help Harry with if you are lying here pretending to be dead."  
  
It was already beginning to turn dark outside, the sun was setting, but that wasn't visible from the small and only window in Peter's room.  
  
The good Healer returned daily, a few hours at a time, trying to pry Peter from his shell. Ever since Dumbledore had told him that outside factors had been the trigger of the catatonic state, his patient was in he had regained hope that he would be able to cure him.  
  
He had considered the rather peculiar relationship of Peter with Harry Potter and had decided to change his method of treatment. Before, he was just trying to get a reaction out of him. Now he was tempting him to act; he was provoking him endlessly.  
  
The figure whined and covered his ears.  
  
"You want Lily to forgive you... but you won't do anything to help her son. The son you put in danger. The son, who has already saved your life once, just like his father. How many times did James save your life, Peter? Don't you owe his memory at least that, don't you owe it to him to protect his only child?" the Healer continued.  
  
Hippocrates approached the balding man and put his hand on the scrawny shoulder in front of him. Next, the figure started thrashing and arms and legs were flailing through the air. Luckily, Hippocrates only was hit with an arm once and to his advantage, it was the arm made of flesh and bone. He would have gotten more than just a bruise from the silver hand. He might even have broken his arm.  
  
He waved the guards who had just opened the door and returned his gaze to the quivering man in the corner.  
  
Not showing any apprehension or pain, he continued talking. "Now, now, is that really necessary? You might even hurt yourself. If you continue like this, I'm going to have to use a Muggle device on you. A straight jacket, now I know you wouldn't like that."  
  
"So behave. Peter," he added in a stricter tone, "you are no longer an ickle toddler who doesn't know any better. Snap out of this now! You are a grown man, a grown man who owes a Wizard debt. It is time you honoured that..."  
  
"Good evening, everyone," said Harry while all the applicants were walking into the classroom. "If you would all please take a pillow out of the pile in the corner and sit down. If everyone is here I will start explaining what we're going to do today."  
  
Harry received a curt nod from Professor Alex, who was quietly sitting in the back of the room, when everyone had found a place to sit down. The Professor was simply present, observing for the moment, but ready to intervene if necessary. Not that she really expected to, Harry seemed to know what he was doing. She noticed that his little pet was nowhere to be seen, a good thing at that she thought. It might get hurt with all those rogue spells that would soon be flying around.  
  
As soon as it looked like Harry started speaking, a silence fell over the students. They had heard a lot of things about this Defence Association from the few students that had already been members last year. They didn't really know what to believe, but with Harry Potter teaching it - the boy was either portrayed as a madman, who should be locked up in St. Mungo's or the magical worlds saviour, who could do no wrong - it should at least be interesting.  
  
"As you might have noticed, there are quite a lot of people here today. That is because so many of you signed up. This means that we have to split you up to get workable groups. Something we are going to do now. You may be asking yourselves, 'how are they going to do that?'"  
  
"Well no, we are not just going to flip a coin," Harry replied, to a whisper he heard coming from the back. "Nor are we simply going to put the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses together and pair up Slytherin and Ravenclaw. No!  
  
"We are going to ask you to perform a few spells and will then divide you according to your skill levels. That way we will get groups that are evenly matched, and we will be able to progress with training much quicker. Now does everyone get the idea?"  
  
A mumble of consent bubbled up.  
  
"Ok, we are going to start with a very simple spell, Expelliarmus."  
  
Whispers started flying across the room. 'That old thing?', 'He has to be kidding?', 'I've been able to do that since my first year!', 'I thought we were supposed to be learning something new here.'  
  
"Everyone, if you would please pay attention a little longer, before you let your tongues rattle off into the sunset. I will explain why I would like you all to perform this 'basic' charm."  
  
"In reality, the Expelliarmus spell is the easiest spell to do. I am sure that you all agree. However, as you will see when you look around the room later on, some people will be vastly better at disarming their opponent than others. That is because the Expelliarmus spell is a very good thermometer of sorts. You can slightly read how focused a person is at anything magical by it. So, do not worry if you do not do well at it the first few times. With practice and more practice everyone here will improve."  
  
"Let's begin. If twenty people would come forward now please, we can start dividing you. Hermione and Ron will be helping me with that," he gestured his two friends forward, "since I only have two eyes, I can not possibly judge you all at once," Harry quipped with a smirk on his face."  
  
Twenty students came forward, wands in hand. The others gathered their pillows and sat down against the walls, out of harms way. They watched the duellers and waited for their turn.  
  
Harry quickly looked over the first twenty duellers. Milan and Delphine had stood up first and were already facing each other in apprehension of the go signal. A few of the other Gryffindor transfer students had also come forward. One of them, a lithe Beauxbatons student, was facing Draco Malfoy. Malfoy seemed almost too eager to prove he could do better than anyone else in the room. Just in case, Harry positioned himself nearby to keep an eye on things.  
  
"Very well, is everyone ready?" Harry asked. "Go."  
  
Spells started flying about the room, ricocheting off the Foe Glass, the sneakoscopes, upending books from their shelves. Only a handful actually hit their target and did what they were designed to do, separate opponents from their wands.  
  
To Harry's annoyance one of the better spell-casters had been Draco. He sighed, shrugged, and thought to himself, 'What did I expect, of course they would teach that in Junior Death Eater Academy'.  
  
Meanwhile in the dungeons, Snape and Max were working hard on finishing the Simulacrum of a human being they needed to test the Crenellation Coal Potion on. If all they needed had been a simulacrum of an animal to test the potion, it would have been done a long time ago. However, when you were making a human simulacrum, a lot of preparations preceded the actual process and a lot more ingredients were needed for its concoction. All the conditions had to be exactly right to have an accurate model that would mimic human reactions and frailties when exposed to a new Potion.  
  
For the last three weeks, Max had been gathering the necessary ingredients for the Simulacrum Potion. Silverthorn, which had to be picked on a new moon, or it would lose its potency and lotus blossoms, which had to be plucked just before they closed their petals at night. Some of the ingredients were even life threatening to obtain, like the freshly drawn Dragon's blood.  
  
Finally, the Simulacrum Potion was ready all it needed was a mould to copy. Thoughtfully, Severus Snape twisted a single hair round his fingers and pulled it from his head. Next, he dropped it into the large silver cauldron that contained the potion and stood back to see if the potion had been correctly brewed.  
  
"Now we'll see if it works," said Max.  
  
Snape wasn't entirely sure if Max was talking about the Crenellation Coal Potion or the Simulacrum Potion but uttered a grunt in compliance none the less.  
  
Before their very eyes, a thick mist billowed up from the cauldron, creating a wall of smoke that prevented them from seeing what was going on beyond it. When the mist eventually lifted a somewhat placid, humanlike figure was standing stark naked in the silver cauldron, staring into space with a blank expression on its face.  
  
Snape first altered the Simulacrum's hair colour from black to a bright green, to make sure there would be no mistaking identities. The two Potion brewers now had to act relatively quickly, because the Simulacrum would only last as long as the Dragon's blood was fresh (which was only for a week or so), to do their tests. However, if the Crenellation Coal Potion were ineffective, they would have even less time and no longer any need for it anyway.  
  
In a house, on a normal street, in a normal town in the west of Wales, in the middle of the night, a little girl got out of bed and walked over to her window that overlooked the street. The streetlights were out... that was unusual, she squinted to make out something in the darkness that appeared to be moving... There were four tall, gangly figures standing in front of her house. The four figures were robed totally in black. Not an inch of skin could be seen anywhere because of the billowing of fabric draped on them.  
  
The little girl felt the temperature in her room drop and slowly an old and dreaded memory reared its ugly head...  
  
Phoebe was six years old. She was mommy's precious little girl. For the last two weeks she had been begging and driving her mom crazy wanting to go to the mall for some newfangled toy. Finally, her mom had given in, and that Saturday they had gone to the nearby mall, a small family outing. Mom, Dad, her little brother in his stroller and Phoebe were wandering about a huge covered shopping mall.  
  
Phoebe gaped at everything and without paying attention to where her parents were headed... she wandered off. Her parents, who were busy looking at baby clothes for her baby brother, didn't notice that she wasn't trampling about, making noise that she wasn't getting enough attention...  
  
It didn't take Phoebe long to realise that mommy and daddy weren't behind her anymore. She couldn't see them anywhere. All she saw were strange people that shoved her to the side. People that didn't even notice her or almost ran her over as they hurried trough the corridors to get to the local supermarket.  
  
She felt totally alone, even though she was in a space that was crawling with people...  
  
Suddenly a small, scrawny man, appeared along side her and offered her his hand saying, "Are you lost little girl... Let me help you, we'll find your mommy soon enough."  
  
Phoebe remembered what her mom had always told her... 'Never go along with strange people... and if they insist start crying, attract as much attention as possible'.  
  
"No, I don't want to," she said clearly.  
  
"Come little girl, you do want to see your parents again don't you?" The man, dressed in tattered old clothes that were practically falling apart, repeated his offer, "I'll take you to them right now..."  
  
She fell to the ground and started crying. As if by magic, the sound of Phoebe crying was amplified throughout the mall and very soon her mom and dad, rushing the stroller through the crowd that had gathered around the little girl, appeared. The man, who had been extremely startled when she had started crying, had disappeared inside the crowd.  
  
"Phoebe? Are you all right honey... why did you wander off, pumpkin? We were so worried!"  
  
"Mommy that strange man wanted to take me away..."  
  
Next, her dad picked her up and the family rushed out to the parking lot and back home safely...  
  
When she heard a faint crying through her daze, coming from somewhere inside the house, she snapped out of her dreaming and hurried over to her little brother's room, where the crying came from. He was upright in his crib, balling his eyes out because he had had a nightmare.  
  
Phoebe walked over to the window and saw the four figures gliding out of the street and around the corner. As soon as they were out of sight, the streetlights popped back on...  
  
The next day the rumours had started flying about the little town. In the bakery, two old ladies were talking to each other about the nightmares they had had.  
  
At the grocery store, the cashier was talking to the town doctor, "A blackout combined with a nightmare epidemic? Who ever heard of that?"  
  
However, nobody mentioned the four strange visitors. Nobody had seen four figures robed in black gliding along the streets... only Phoebe.  
  
Chapter Twelve, Uprising of the Soul-Eaters. 


	12. Chapter Twelve, Uprising of the SoulEate...

Chapter Twelve, Uprising of the Soul-Eaters  
  
Harry had been excited all day long, a regular ball of nerves. Transfiguration had gone by in a haze and during Charms; he had been unable to concentrate on anything Professor Flitwick had to say. He had even missed answering some of the questions Professor Alex had asked him in DADA -his favourite class- because he was preoccupied. He was so excited because in half an hour's time, he would be having his first Occlumency lesson under the watchful eye of Headmaster Dumbledore.  
  
Sirius, who had quickly picked up on Harry's emotions, was jumping every which way from left to right, up and down. Interrupting and disturbing students that were studying and doing their homework in the Gryffindor common room by jumping right in front of them or scattering their papers all over the room. He caused some bouts of laughter as he caused important papers to go flying, but mostly the studying students were just annoyed at his antics.  
  
Harry had first learned of this new arrangement a few days ago. He remembered it so clearly because it had been an unusually eventful day, because first thing that morning, at breakfast, one story had been the talk of the school. 'Dementors attack helpless Muggles', was plastered all over the front page of the Daily Prophet, for all eyes to see.  
  
The Wizarding newspapers had taken over an originally Muggle report. All the original Muggle article had stated was that in a few small towns in the middle of nowhere, an electrical blackout had coincided with a nightmare epidemic. There was no explanation for the phenomenon, not even from the scientific community. The mere mentioning of a blackout and nightmare epidemic was enough to get the Wizarding community to send up red flags to alert their members of the menace.  
  
Later on, the day had gotten even stranger. While standing in the doorway watching his students leave, Severus Snape had approached Harry and asked him for a moment of his time. Harry had been leaving the classroom after another arduous Potions lesson (luckily, Harry's last lesson that day). What made it so strange was that the manner in which Snape had addressed Harry could almost be considered polite.  
  
Sitting in one of the comfy chairs in front of the fire place, in the Gryffindor common room, Harry remembered it to the last detail:  
  
"Potter, could you spare me a moment or two of your time?" Snape had asked just before Harry had slipped out the door.  
  
Harry vividly remembered standing in the cold and damp atmosphere of Snape's office for at least ten whole minutes, before Snape saw fit to tear his attention away from the stacks of papers in front of him and address Harry.  
  
"Potter, I was asked to deliver this message to you, by Headmaster Dumbledore.  
  
"As you might well know, I will no longer be your Occlumency teacher this year." Snape glared at Harry as Harry let slip a little sigh of relief at that joyous piece of information.  
  
"From now on, the Headmaster himself will be taking on that responsibility in your education. You will receive the necessary information about your first meeting very soon. Now get out of my office. Quietly, if you please!" Snape said, his attention seemingly returning to the papers that he had been grading earlier.  
  
Harry turned around and started walking out of the room when he heard Snape whispering, "Although I doubt that even the Headmaster can get the simple principles of Occlumency into that muddled brain of yours."  
  
Harry had been practising Occlumency on his own, ever since the death of his Godfather at the Department of Mysteries. To him, it had been his failure to block out the evil influences of Voldemort from his mind that had led to the all too premature demise of Sirius.  
  
Guilt, however, was no easy master. By the time that Harry left Grimmauld Place, he had read every single book on Occlumency and its counterpart Legilimency that he could find in the Black family library. However, without someone to tell him what he was supposed to be feeling and doing, without an experienced teacher, Harry hadn't gotten very far, despite his efforts to the contrary. Now that he had a second chance, Harry was determined to learn as fast as he could.  
  
Snape had been correct about when the news of his first appointment would arrive, because that morning, a small tawny owl had delivered a message to Harry.  
  
Mr. Potter  
  
I have made an appointment for your first Occlumency lesson with me,  
at eight o'clock tonight. The new password to my office is 'Fainting  
Fancies'. I rely on your discretion, to make sure that this vital  
piece of information does not become general knowledge, among the rest  
of the student population. If you would please bring your Pensieve -  
the one I got you for your birthday - a clear mind, and your little,  
Royal marmoset pet with you when you come, I would greatly appreciate  
it.  
  
Until then...  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
"Harry? Harry, don't you have an appointment?" whispered Hermione as she nudged Harry out of his pensive state.  
  
From her point of view, he had been staring into the roaring fire, as if it was telling him something, for at least half an hour.  
  
"What? Oh, my appointment! Oh Merlin, I hope I'm not going to be too late."  
  
Harry sprinted up the stairs, to retrieve the Pensieve he had stored away in his room, and dashed back down, stopped long enough for Sirius to climb up on his usual spot and hurried out of the Gryffindor common room.  
  
By the time Harry arrived at the Gargoyle that marked the entrance to Headmaster Dumbledore's office, he was totally out of breath. He barely managed to say 'Fainting Fancies', making the Gargoyle jump out of the way and revealing the winding staircase. He got onto one of the steps, which rotated around the centre column and brought Harry up to the landing outside the office...  
  
...An office that was currently being occupied by two people by the sound of it. Harry thought he recognised the voices of Professor Dumbledore and a very agitated Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.  
  
"Albus? How could you? Why did you go totally around me? You had no right, no right whatsoever to make the Magical world panic like this," Cornelius whined as he paced up and down the room.  
  
"No right? No, no, that is where you are wrong, Cornelius. I had every right, because it is in fact our duty to inform our peers of any possible danger to their safety. And don't you dare say that rampaging Dementors are not a danger to our safety Cornelius," said an ever calm and collected Dumbledore.  
  
"Albus, then why didn't you do it through the proper channels? This sort of news should have come from the Ministry. Now it is yet another piece of evidence that the Ministry is coming up short. I am loosing support Albus. Support I cannot do without. Especially not after that debacle at the Department of Mysteries three months ago."  
  
"That is a situation you have brought upon yourself. I warned you about Voldemort's return an entire year prior to that incident. If only you would have believed me then, this whole situation would never have occurred.  
  
"Instead, you spent your time wrecking reputations and spreading stories about young Harry Potter and myself. You made the boy out to be a raving lunatic, and if you believed what the Daily Prophet reported, I was ready to be carted off to St. Mungo's.  
  
"No, Cornelius, I do not owe you any explanations. If you will not do your job properly and take the responsibility and the time to do things correctly, others will have to take over. This Dementor situation is yet more proof that you simply do not know what you are doing. The decision to remove them from their duties as the sole guardians of Azkaban was a good one.  
  
"However, not placing them under careful monitoring? Cornelius what were you thinking! That they were peacefully going to sit in a little deserted corner of the world and starve to death, while you figured out what to do with Voldemort?  
  
"No of course they wouldn't! As I have said a thousand times, Voldemort is their natural ally, he will let them roam free and he'll let them take whatever they want. He can give them anything they require; not just those little morsels of emotion they were getting, being guards at Azkaban prison.  
  
"No, now, thanks to your grave oversight, we have Dementors roaming the country side. Rogue Dementors that are targeting helpless and defenceless Muggles. Those Muggles might not have figured out that there is an outside influence responsible for the black- outs and their nightmares yet, but they will. Muggles aren't stupid Cornelius. Once people start appearing, the soul sucked out of them, even they will understand," Dumbledore added in a grave tone of voice.  
  
"But, but...Albus..." said Fudge, still cringing from the numerous times Dumbledore had used 'Voldemort' in stead of the Ministry approved term 'You- Know-Who' or even 'What's-it'.  
  
"Don't but Albus me. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it."  
  
An uncomfortable silence set in and Mr. Fudge continued to pace about the room, his thoughts locked because of nervous indecision. Dumbledore finally decided that the conversation had gone on long enough and recalled his previous engagement.  
  
"I had a previous appointment Cornelius and I do believe that he is waiting outside as we speak. Harry, my boy, do come in."  
  
Harry gracefully opened the oaken door and stepped into the office. He set the Pensieve, which was by now starting to weigh kind of heavy, down on one of the many tables that were scattered about the room. He specially tried to avoid breaking any of the spindly and fragile magical instruments that were displayed on the table.  
  
Next, he walked over to Fawkes' perch and introduced Sirius to the magnificent bird.  
  
Cornelius Fudge, who had positioned himself in the most advantageous position to shake hands with Harry, was baffled by the lack of respect the sixth-year student portrayed. Even if he was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who- Lived, that did not mean he could treat the Minister of Magic with such disrespect. He didn't know how to react, he had never before simply been ignored. He was the Minister of Magic; respect was due to him. You did not ignore him...  
  
Harry, who heard the Minister prattle like a teakettle that was starting to boil, only acknowledged his presence with a degrading, "Fudge." Before he turned around again and paid attention to Fawkes, who was, all aspects considered, a lot more interesting.  
  
Cornelius Fudge, who by now was starting to boil over, could barely speak up because he was incredulous of the treatment he was receiving...  
  
A sentiment, Headmaster Dumbledore quickly put a stop to, as he bid the man goodbye one last time.  
  
"Goodnight, Cornelius. Sleep well. Do close the door behind you, after you leave," he said, his eyes gleaming with pride over Harry's assessment of the man.  
  
"Nott! Fetch me Nott, immediately!" Voldemort screamed as he read the three- day-old Daily Prophet Bellatrix had only just been able to procure.  
  
Half and hour later, Nott, visibly scared out of his wits because of this dreaded summons, appeared in the entrance to the room.  
  
"Come closer, Nott. Explain this to me," Voldemort said as he held the front page of the Prophet out for the little and frail man to read.  
  
"Are you not the one I assigned to watch over the Dementors? Are you not responsible for any little mishaps? Did I not order you to keep those creatures out of trouble?" His Master's voice grew louder with every added question.  
  
"Yes master, but there are so many of them, and I am only one man. I could not keep an eye on them all the time. I need to sleep, Master."  
  
"Sleep? Sleep, your need for sleep is going to cost me the most valuable allies I have, and all you have to say is that you need sleep!" Voldemort bellowed at the timid man that was cowering at his feet.  
  
"Scalpere..." Voldemort practically whispered, accompanied by a swish of his wand, separating Nott from a piece of hair off the top of his head, one inch wide and three inches long.  
  
"Be glad I don't send you to your eternal rest for all the difficulties you have caused me. You will receive reinforcements. Go back to the cliffs and keep those creatures quiet. Or, the next time, I will take more than just a strip of skin off of your head."  
  
Nott stumbled backwards out of the room, blinded by the blood that was running down his face...  
  
"Bellatrix? Where are you, you useless woman. I want to know if Wormtail has been found yet..."  
  
Harry, under the watchful eye of Headmaster Dumbledore, had spent the last hour storing important memories in his Pensieve, and practising concentration techniques. Just a little while ago, Dumbledore had said it was time to start with the actual practice of Occlumency.  
  
Dumbledore summoned two chairs; they stood facing each other in the middle of his office. Nothing blocking the line of sight between them, nothing but air... He asked Harry to take a place in one of the chairs and had sat himself down in the opposite chair.  
  
With sheer force and willpower, Harry was able to push Dumbledore out of his mind twice now. Even though he hadn't broken any records timewise, he was very pleased he was able to protect his brain from intruders. Dumbledore was very pleased with the progress Harry was making.  
  
Suddenly, Harry asked the Headmaster, "Sir, am I supposed to feel something pulling in my mind right now?"  
  
"What Harry, pulling inside your mind. No, my dear boy, you are not supposed to feel anything at all. Can you describe to me exactly what it feels like?" Dumbledore asked?  
  
"Well, it kind of feels like someone tied a small line to my thoughts and is pulling at it right now. Wait, it... it stopped..."  
  
"Harry, do you remember your last clash with Voldemort's mind? Can you tell me if it felt the same as this?"  
  
"No Sir, I was totally overwhelmed and writhing in agony then. I couldn't even sit up in a chair or anything. But...I think it kind of might be the same because I vaguely remember being in a room five minutes ago and I haven't left here..."  
  
"Harry, tell me about that room, if you can."  
  
"All right, I hazily remember yelling at a man named Nott, he was supposed to keep the Dementors out of trouble... Sir, have you ever heard of a spell called 'Scalpere'?"  
  
"Morris...You made it," said Alex, when she walked into her quarters, after finishing up grading the fourth year DADA papers on the Unforgivables.  
  
She walked up to him and gave him a big hug. Mr. Morris Ogilvie had been her Mentor, while Alex was training to be an Unspeakable, almost twenty years ago.  
  
"Good evening my dear...Yes, I heard only a few days ago from Max that whatever it is you two are making such a fuss about, is ready to be tested on a human simulacrum. Besides, since you so generously suggested I come and stay for a while... Here I am," he replied with a huge smile.  
  
"And you are very welcome at that. I am so glad to finally see you again. It's been lonely sometimes, without your levelheaded opinion on things..." Alex mused.  
  
"Well, I am here now. Anyway, that husband of yours said that I should wait here in your quarters for you to finish... this delightful creature kept me company," he said pointing at Orion, who had curled up in front of the fireplace now that he was no longer the centre of attention. "After which you were supposed take me down to the dungeons... or wherever that test is supposed to take place."  
  
"Alex, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what exactly is so special that I needed to be here in person to witness the final tests? What exactly do the two of you have in store for me? I am dying to know..."  
  
"Max didn't tell you? Well then, I'm not going to either. It'll be much more effective if it remains a surprise."  
  
"All right, just let me take my cloak, you might want to take yours too... it can get kind of cold down there and we might be there a while," she said while getting a woollen cloak out of her wardrobe.  
  
"Dobby?" she asked no one in particular; until all of the sudden with a loud 'crack', that specific house elf appeared. "Dobby, would you please have a pot of hot tea and a bottle of Fire whisky waiting for us as soon as we return from the dungeons. I dare say that we will need it. To get warm and to celebrate."  
  
"Will miss be needing anything else from Dobby, Miss?" the small creature asked with a subservient voice?  
  
"No Dobby, that will be all, thank you. Actually, Dobby, maybe you could. Dobby, we have a guest that will be staying a few days. Could you prepare a room for him?"  
  
"Yes, Miss. That is no problem Miss. We will have a room ready for your honoured guest, as soon as possible Miss," the creature uttered just before it left the same way it came.  
  
"Thank you, Dobby." Alex said to the empty space the house elf had just taken up a few moments earlier, "Now then, Morris, are you ready? We should be off."  
  
Orion, practically asleep from the warmth of the fire, looked up as the two humans left the room, bundled up tightly in their cloaks before he returned to his slumber.  
  
Alex guided her mentor through the maze of dungeon corridors that existed underneath Hogwarts, until they reached the testing lab for the Crenellation Coal Potion. Both her husband and Severus Snape were bustling about doing last minute things and getting everything in order.  
  
"Max, we're here..."  
  
"Ah, yes, you are, we have been waiting for you," said Max as he kissed his wife on the lips.  
  
"Welcome, Mr. Ogilvie," uttered a distracted Severus Snape, who didn't even look up from his preparations long enough to look at the man.  
  
Morris exchanged a puzzled look with Alex and replied, "Thank you, for the invitation Professor Snape..."  
  
"Oh, never mind Severus, Morris. What he lacks in people skills, he thoroughly makes up for in Potion brewing talents, and that is what we need most at this particular moment," quipped Alex at the puzzled look of her mentor at Snape's rudeness.  
  
"I see. Very well, where do you want me, Max?" Morris requested.  
  
"We've prepared seats for you and Alex in the back, you see they are right over there. Out of harm's way, so to speak," Max answered. "The both of you should take a seat because we gave the Potion to the test subjects a half an hour ago. Which means that the effective window is just opening up..."  
  
"Time, " said Severus Snape as he led a chimpanzee to the middle of the room, to a spot that was marked with a white circle about four feet in diameter, and left it there.  
  
"Alright, here goes..." Max mumbled to himself as he watched Snape take his position and take out his wand.  
  
Snape would execute the spell in the first test, and he would in the second test. Max thought that they might even let Morris cast it a third time, just to prove that they had really found an effective protection potion. However, first things first. The test with the chimpanzee had to go perfectly...  
  
After the tiresome exercises that Harry had done the last few hours, he was dead tired. Because it was already past curfew, Professor Dumbledore had written Harry a note, just in case he would run into Filch or Mrs. Norris on his way back to the Gryffindor Common room. Sirius was already fast asleep on Harry's shoulder, and Harry was hurrying along to follow his pet's example as soon as possible.  
  
When he rounded a corner however, instead of being all alone in the hallways of Hogwarts, Harry bumped into a fellow late night wanderer.  
  
"Susan? Susan Bones? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, a little breathless from the collision.  
  
"Oh, I've been having head aches lately, and the last time, Mrs. Pomfrey said I should just come down to see her instead of living with it. I was just going back to my common room with the potion she gave me, when you bumped into me." Susan answered, holding out the flask for Harry to see.  
  
Harry, who was slightly embarrassed because he had knocked Susan over stuttered a quick, "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired. It's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going."  
  
"That's all right. It was creepy walking about the corridors all by myself anyways. And I much prefer running into you, than I would running into Mrs. Norris or Mr. Filch," she said with a small smile.  
  
"Would you like some company walking back to your dorm? I have a note from the Headmaster, it might help keep Filch of your back..." Harry timidly suggested.  
  
"I would love the company... You are a real gentleman Harry..." she said as she accepted his offer and gave him a warm hug.  
  
Chapter Thirteen, Ministry Approvals... 


End file.
